Play With Me

Liza Matthews has been in love with Tony since kindergarten. He’s been her best friend, closest confidante and, hopefully, her future husband.  He is also a star on their high school soccer team and has been gone for the summer at training camp.  Liza can’t wait to see him again and happily  jumps into his arms upon his return and together, they head to the soccer field.
Once there, however, Liza finds things are oddly not the same.  There is another girl on the team making moves on her man! Liza hates playing soccer but, if that is what it takes, she’ll try out.  The only one who seems enthusiastic about Liza’s decision, however, is Ryan Hunter, the team captain.  He even offers to train her!  With Tony’s attentions mysteriously elsewhere and Ryan’s fun-loving and supportive presence, Liza’s clear-cut plans are falling apart and  life is suddenly becoming very complicated!
This is undoubtably one of the best coming of age stories available today!  Even with its frustratingly short length, Ms. Shelly has packed every single page with pitch-perfect emotion, beautifully expressed and heartbreakingly real.  Through Liza’s eyes, the reader is immediately transported to a time when life was simple, then lives through all the angst-ridden but life-learning lessons right along the characters!  Growing up is never easy but this story makes it both touching and beautiful.  Bravo Ms. Shelly!

TJ Mackay