Cut From the Team: Marcus's Story of Rejection and His Journey Back to Game

Marcus Bennett has been the best winger on every team he's ever played for - until the day his name isn't on the list. When Marcus gets cut from the club team he was sure he'd make, his whole sense of who he is goes with it. He stops showing up to practice. He starts lying to his best friend about why. He hides his cleats at the back of his closet where no one - including himself - has to look at them. It takes an unlikely mentor, three cold months of unglamorous work, and a complete rebuild of how Marcus handles failure before he finds his way back onto a field - not as the player he used to be, but as someone steadier, someone who knows the difference between a bad day and a bad verdict. Cut From the Team is a grounded, funny, and emotionally honest middle-grade novel about what actually happens in the messy middle between a setback and a comeback. It doesn't promise a fairytale ending. It promises something better: a kid who learns how to get back up, on purpose, one small step at a time. Perfect for young readers navigating their own tryouts, rejections, and rebuilds - and for the parents, teachers, and coaches looking for a story that takes their disappointment seriously without ever talking down to them.

Pagina's: 83, Paperback, Independently published