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superintendent.”
    “Why not?” Joelle asked.
    “Yes, why not?” Dad echoed. He looked surprised.
    “Well, we’re new here,” Mom said slowly. “And this is a small town. How will it look if we run down to the superintendent’s office right away and start complaining?”
    “It’ll look like Joelle’s really serious about playing baseball,” Dad said. He wiped his mouth. “If there’s a district policy that says girls can’t play baseball, we’ll never get around it at the school level. We’ll have to go higher.”
    “I can’t live in a town where they won’t let me play baseball, Mom,” Joelle said.
    Mom sighed. “I know baseball is important to you, honey.” She looked at Dad. “Maybe Joelle’s right. I suppose it can’t hurt to at least talk to the superintendent. I just don’t want people to get the wrong impression. They don’t know us and—”
    “That’s exactly the problem,” Joelle broke in. “If they knewme—or if they knew Jason, anyway—they’d never try to stop me from playing.”
    “I think the school district administration building is down the street from my store. I’ll see if I can make time to go over there later this week, okay, Joelle?” Dad asked.
    Later this week? Baseball tryouts were already over! Joelle didn’t have time to mess around. She had to get on the team
now.
“Maybe I should just go by myself,” Joelle said. “Tomorrow after school.”
    “By yourself?” Mom nearly choked on a piece of broccoli.
    “Sure,” Joelle said, shrugging. “I’m not a baby or anything.”
    “I’m sure Joelle can handle it, Lynn,” Dad said. “Greendale isn’t Minneapolis. In fact, it might even be better this way. Let her plead her own case.”
    Mom thought for a minute. “Well, okay,” she agreed finally. “I suppose another advantage to living in a small town is that Joelle can have a little more independence.”
    “That’s right.” Dad smiled and turned to Joelle. “If anyone can convince the superintendent to take another look at the rules, you can, honey.”
    Joelle grinned at the pride in her dad’s voice.
It’s true
, she thought.
I can do this.
    It wasn’t like she was asking for anything unreasonable.
    All she wanted was a chance to play baseball.

Chapter Three
    J oelle’s alarm went off at six o’clock sharp the next morning. She groaned as she rolled over. She was tempted to hit the snooze button, but then she wouldn’t get her morning jog in. Even if she wasn’t officially on the Hoover baseball team yet, she had to keep in shape.
    She switched off her alarm, yawned, and dragged herself out of bed. Then she pulled on a pair of sweats and Jason’s old Twins sweatshirt. After a quick glass of orange juice and a few stretching exercises in the front yard, she set off down Morgan Road.
    Greendale didn’t have much of a downtown. Not in comparison to Minneapolis, anyway. But there was a grassy area in the middle of a group of shops—the Town Square, Dad called it. That was where Joelle headed.
    The sun warmed Joelle’s back as she jogged through town. A heavy dew blanketed the grass and car windshields. The day smelled fresh and clean.
That’s one good thing about moving to Greendale
, Joelle thought.
It’s definitely warmer here than it was back home. There was still snow on the ground when we left Minneapolis.
    As Joelle neared the corner of First and Main, she passed a post office and a bakery. Her mouth watered as she breathed in the sweet aroma of fresh-baked donuts.
Later
, she told herself.
    She kept an easy pace as she jogged around the Square. Her dad’s store was just a block or two down Main Street. As she jogged past the entrance to a small park, the gray statue in the middle of the park caught her eye. It was a man sitting down, leaning his chin on his fist. He seemed to be thinking hard about something.
    Joelle was so busy looking at the statue that she didn’t notice another jogger rounding the corner in front of