Her older brothers are both wrestlers on their high school teams. Mykala (Mickey) Delgado is the third child and only daughter of a wrestling family. Their story is told in alternating first-person narratives. The two protagonists, Mykayla and Lev, are sixth-grade wrestlers who have just moved up from their town rec teams to a traveling team.

I’m incredibly outside that age range, yet I found this book quite a satisfying read. Takedown is a novel aimed at middle-grade readers, aged 9-12. Selected for Amazon Prime Book Box's Children's Subscription Missouri Association of School Librarians Mark Twain Award Nominee Wisconsin State Reading Association 'Just One More Page!' Recommendation List This warmhearted, engaging novel by the author of the highly praised The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary explores competition among athletes, how it influences family and friendships, and what happens when one girl wants to break barriers in a sport dominated by boys.Ģ019 Amelia Bloomer List of Recommended Feminist Literature for Birth through 18 But at States, there can only be one winner. Mickey and Lev work hard together, and find a way to become friends. This better not get in the way of his goal. But at the beginning of sixth grade, he's paired with a new partner-a girl. He's used to training with his two buddies as the Fearsome Threesome. Lev is determined too-he's going to make it to the state championship. Some people don’t want a girl on the team. Mikayla is a wrestler when you grow up in a house full of brothers who are die-hard mat heads, it's in your DNA.

Takedown by Laura Shovan