The kicks

After moving to California, seventh-grader Devin is afraid she will not make the soccer team but finds, instead, a team is so bad that she is compelled to take the lead and turn it into something the players and coach can all be proud of.

"Devin's team thinks she is taking too much credit for their winning streak and she must keep the team together"--

A California earthquake is just the first in a series of chain of events that shakes Devin's confidence: she fails a test in a subject she knows well, her crush seems to have his attention on another girl, and worst of all, her soccer game is off, so now Devin, the girl who usually inspires confidence in her friends and teammates, will have to turn to them for support.

"The middle school soccer team is facing a lot of pressure to be league champions--will they buckle under it or will they manage to succeed?"--

Devin has to deal with some contention between members of her team, the Kicks, and hostility toward their rivals, the Roses.

Devin visits her best friend, Kara, in Connecticut but the visit goes very badly, distracting Devin just before the Kicks' first playoff match.