Seventh-grader Charlie Gold, at six feet two, would be perfect as center for the school basketball travel team, but at tryouts, the 13-year-old’s anger gets the better of him, and he’s subsequently cut. He and his older sister, Cecilia, who works and takes classes at St. Hildegarde’s University, are no strangers to hardship; they’ve lost both parents and are barely scraping by in their grandmother’s old house. Things get worse for Charlie when the incident at the tryouts becomes a viral video that earns him online trolls’ unfounded ire. On the plus side, he’s soon earning cash at St. Hildegarde’s, where he takes calculus and begins tutoring older, full-time students. The university’s new coach is impressed by Charlie and Charlie’s best friend Jalen’s scrupulous tracking of college basketball players’ stats on spreadsheets. But an unexpected snag further complicates the boy’s life. Michalowski’s young, endearing hero suffers familiar troubles—he stands in the shadow of his late father, a “basketball legend,” and he doesn’t fit in at his middle school or at St. Hildegarde’s. The grounded narrative is often relatable, as Charlie’s mistakes are understandable, and the online hate he gets is sadly realistic. Despite Charlie’s woes, he leads a largely feel-good story buoyed by its warm cast of characters—Cecilia acts as Charlie’s parent, a job she takes on with love and apparent relish, and Charlie willingly hands over his tutoring revenue to help pay bills and saves the rest. Other standouts include the fiercely loyal Jalen and Zoey, the coach’s daughter. The author imbues the novel with a winning positivity as Charlie fights to maintain “poise” (a lesson from his father) and looks for the best in both people and unpleasant circumstances.