Worse Things

From the award-winning author of Pearl Verses the World and Toppling comes a story about connections, the ways they are made and what happens when they are lost.



When you’re part of the team

the sideline

is a place of refuge

of rest

of reprieve.

But when you’re out of the team

the sideline changes.

Suddenly it’s the loneliest place

of them all.



After a devastating football injury, Blake struggles to cope with life on the sideline. Jolene, a gifted but conflicted hockey player, wants nothing more than for her dad to come home. And soccer-loving refugee, Amed, wants to belong. On the surface, it seems they have nothing in common. Except sport.


A touching and inspirational story about the things that bind us all.