“This was always the best of it for Nate Brodie, when he felt the slap of the ball in his hands and began to back away from the center, when he felt as if he could see the whole field, and football made perfect sense to him.” 

This is the opening line of the novel, and it introduces the protagonist, Nate Brodie, and his main passion in life of playing football. For Nate, football is more of a way of life than just a simple game. He demonstrates the lessons he learns via playing, such as fairness and good sportsmanship, on and off the field. Additionally, the stability of football—something he knows well and understands—initially helps him find his footing as he contends with overwhelming life issues.

“Nate had been having more and more trouble figuring out his world lately, especially with everything that had been happening to his family. School was school—he tried hard, but there were times when he just felt lost, in search of answers that wouldn’t come. And no matter how hard he tried, how hard he could try, he was never going to make sense out of what was happening to his friend Abby.” 

This introduces the main dilemma of the novel: Nate’s inability to understand the bad things that are happening to the people he loves. Throughout the novel, this idea grows to become the central tension and source of stress in Nate’s life. That is, most of the novel is about Nate grappling with how to accept the unfortunate occurrences that are happening to his loved ones as well as the good things that are happening to him. Once he reconciles these differences within himself, he becomes empowered to change the negative circumstances around him for the good.