The Rule of Three

by Heather Murphy Capps

Overview

When the rules no longer apply, how do you keep your head in the game?

Wyatt has a three-part Plan for Life, and it starts now, at the beginning of seventh grade, with tryouts for his local travel baseball team. A biracial kid in a mostly white town, he’s always felt like a bit of an outsider. The baseball field is the only place where he feels like he truly belongs. If he can just make the team, everything else will fall into place: school, friends, even his relationship with his often-distant dad.

But after upsetting incidents at tryouts, something inexplicable happens: wisps of smoke form around Wyatt.

As Wyatt tries to figure out what’s causing this mysterious smoke and how to control it, he discovers it’s connected to a painful family history. The more he learns, the more Wyatt begins to question the rules he’s always followed to fit in. With tensions rising at school and on the field, can he face the injustices of the past while keeping his cool in the present?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798765608296
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/06/2024
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.94(d)
Age Range:	11 - 12 Years

About the Author

Heather Murphy Capps grew up in a small Minnesota town where the motto is "Cows, Colleges, and Contentment." She spent fifteen years as a television news journalist before deciding to focus on her favorite kind of writing: books for kids involving history, social justice, science, mystery, and a touch of magic. A mixed-race author committed to diversity in publishing, she lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, two kids, two cats, and yes, even some cows, colleges, and contentment.

Editorial Reviews

"The author's willingness to tackle difficult topics with thoughtfulness and compassion makes this compelling novel a must-read. Readers will connect to Wyatt's strife and journey of self-discovery. This book belongs in all middle school libraries; it deftly discusses important histories and hot topics facing young readers today."—starred, School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2024-06-15
A biracial Minnesota seventh grader’s baseball dreams are derailed by racism.

Among other Black-positive values instilled in him and his sister, Wyatt Cash and his family (his white mom included) speak Swahili at home, largely because of his father’s complicated upbringing in a real-life Afrocentric community that was tragically bombed by the Philadelphia police in 1985. While his dad isn’t forthcoming about his past, Wyatt recognizes that the way his dad handles anxiety and stress—by manifesting plumes of mysterious smoke—may be connected to it. When smoke starts coming out of Wyatt’s hands, too, he learns it’s a family thing, just as the racist microaggressions he’s experiencing from his teammates, coach, so-called friends, and school officials mirror anti-Black prejudices his family has faced for generations. A remarkable counselor, unfazed by these supernatural symptoms, thoughtfully explains that epigenetics can intersect with racialized trauma, and work must be done to resolve this legacy. The story’s rich fabulism and scientific grounding don’t soften how truly difficult it is to witness Wyatt’s being broken by bigotry; the bookish student-athlete’s dreams are deferred and his personality changed by grinning white supremacists. The optimistic conclusion may not compensate for how disheartening and triggering the series of hate crimes faced by this tween are. Still, Wyatt has a strong family, and some key friendships eventually see some much-needed growth.

A would-be star athlete faces bullying and racism in this traumatic story that’s given an optimistic spin. (author’s note, discussion questions, works cited)(Fiction. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews