Thirteen-year-old Terry Gomez is furious, dejected and acting out in ways that mystify her grandparents, with whom she has lived for the past year after her mother moved to California without her. Hating everything and everyone, including herself, Terry is in deep trouble and sinking fast. When her destructive behavior leads to an arrest, Terry finds herself in front of a juvenile court judge who imposes an unusual sentence which changes her life: He entrusts Terry's probation and rehabilitation to Palm Beach heiress Libby Shaver, a former professional tennis star grappling with major problems of her own. The unlikely pairing of Terry and Libby will result in Terry's meteoric rise through the junior tennis world and will have consequences that reach far beyond the making of the champion, as adolescent rage and depression are transformed into a triumph of the body, mind and spirit through the power of mentoring and, ultimately, love.