Coming Up Short, by Laurie Morrison, is a masterful story of how parents’ mistakes can deeply affect their children, how anxiety impacts performance, and how a network of caring friends and family members is all-important when navigating life’s difficulties. Bea is a talented softball player who feels like she’s at the top of her game. But when her dad makes a huge mistake in his business and the town starts to gossip Bea finds it hard to concentrate, begins to miss throws, and fears she’s no longer good at softball. She finds support in a long-lost aunt, and time away at a summer camp gives her renewed courage to face forgiving her dad and reclaiming her winning game. A great addition to any library looking for more sporty girl books!

Family dynamics and sports team dynamics can certainly be complicated. The needs & decisions of the individual can affect the group in negative and positive ways, and vice versa. Bea knows that better than anybody in this particular season of her life, as she struggles with the dynamics of her own family as well as her softball teams. Coming Up Short has a lot to say about this topic, and it says it in a way that elicits accurate and relatable feelings, along with a sentiment of hope amongst the challenges. The story not only emcompasses the dynamics of family, teams and friendship, but it also covers a love of softball, what it feels like to doubt your skills and “get in your head”, the desire to run off to an island where no one knows what happened before and the fact that we don’t always know all the details of someone’s story. This was a truly engaging read with so much to love. I’m grateful to have read it right at a time when it could speak directly to my soul, and I can’t wait for its late June release date so that others can explore this story.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the author for sending me an eARC of COMING UP SHORT by Laurie Morrison (Release Date: June 21/22)

One of the things I love about this author is how authentic her writing voice is for upper middle-grade readers. In this story, Bea’s confidence in softball shatters when a scandal involving her dad causes her to lose focus during the championship game. In an effort to get away from the stress and regain her fearlessness on the field, she goes to stay with her aunt and take an intensive softball summer camp. But Bea learns that problems often follow you, and overcoming her mental block requires bravery, tough choices, and facing issues head-on. Important and relatable themes such as family, friendship, and self-esteem, mixed with lots of softball and sports psychology to handle performance anxiety, make this story unique and an excellent addition to a summer-themed reading list. It would pair well with Taking Up Space by Alyson Gerber, another upper middle-grade title that deals with the impact of self-talk on sports performance.

This would be a great choice for sports-loving readers. Bea lives for softball and her parents, who have coined the nickname "Dream Team" for their family, are extremely supportive and involved caretakers. When Bea's father ends up in financial trouble, she begins to struggle in her performance on the field. In an attempt to get away from things, she stays with her aunt in her mom's hometown and plays for a summer softball camp. But just like her parents have had to learn, you can't run away from your problems.

This was a fast-moving story with some interesting conflicts and realistic tween feelings, as well as a reflection of the impact social media bullying can have on people. I think this would be a great book to have in a classroom library, and would lead to some good discussions about family trauma.

Heartwarming book about family, softball, and confidence as many changes affect Bea and her family when Bea finds out her lawyer dad spent money that wasn’t his. When people whisper and stare, Bea has trouble focusing on her softball games and decides to visit Aunt Mary’s where she can attend a softball camp for two weeks. Aunt Mary tells her nerves can cause you to lose focus and make mistakes. Bea doesn’t know what her future holds, but she realizes she can’t do her best all of the time and as Aunt Mary says, “ even when we do our best, we come up short.” Great life lessons in this book.

This was a great, heartfelt middle-grade novel that dealt with some important issues. Would have loved to read this when I was younger!

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A softball 🥎 #middlegrade story all about a young girl, Bea, getting roped into stuff that is negatively affecting her and her family. Bea takes on the stress of a mistake her dad made and in the process makes some of her own - as a preteen or teenager we often see them dealing with adult issues and forgetting how to just be and have fun. This story brought back a lot of good softball memories for me and one on one time my dad and I had.
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This book is a home run in so many ways! As a teacher, I see so many Beas who feel responsible for their parents’ happiness. Coming Up Short tackles so many issues, which sounds so much like kids’ lives today. I can’t wait to share this one with students!

Another masterful middle grade novel. Love the positive representation of girls in sports, and the emotional complexity of Bea's relationship with her parents.

Laurie Morrison has done it again with COMING UP SHORT—engaging and emotionally layered, I loved this exploration of family, friendship, and the yips!

Bea is a superstar shortstop but everything changes when her dad is implicated in a legal scandal. As her family grapples with their current circumstances, Bea loses confidence in her game play and feels the change in relationships with friends and their standing in the community.

There are so many things I loved about this book. Laurie Morrison writes fantastic characters and dimensional relationships. No one is a “perfect” individual. Everyone (even the adults) has a way in which they can grow. I really appreciate her depiction of families … I love how she shows that a family can love each other AND still have room to learn and change. I loved watching Bea appreciate the strengths and shortcomings of both of her parents.

I also loved Bea’s friendships and teammate relationships, which felt very realistic to me. I especially liked the interactions with Hannah—there was a lot of depth there and I loved how Morrison didn’t wrap it up all neatly with a bow. I also really liked Bea’s relationships with Jessi and Xander, who were really interesting and well developed characters. I also adored Aunt Mary. Everyone should have an aunt like her! Oh and there’s a fun Easter egg with Annabelle (UP FOR AIR) that made me smile.

Finally, as the mom of two softball players, I absolutely LOVED the softball scenes. They were written in a very engaging way with lots of excitement and tension.

Highly recommended!