Maggie Vaults Over the Moon
An award-winning YA novel about grief, grit, and the pole vault
A car crash takes Maggie Steele's brother at harvest time, and the future she'd pictured closes. Life on the family's Kansas wheat farm keeps moving. Maggie doesn't, until she finds the pole vault, a sport that asks for everything she has.
Available as a novel and as an audiobook performed by Tavia Gilbert.
"A fine YA novel about perseverance in sports and in life." — Kirkus Reviews
Citius Mag named it to its list of 100 books all runners and track fans should read, calling it the only novel its editor knew of about a field event rather than a track event. USA TODAY's Christine Brennan recommends it for girls who play sports and the families and coaches who support them. Selected for the Wichita Diocese Catholic Schools Battle of the Books.
Two Ways In
Read it — The Second Edition The novel, with a foreword by Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi and chapter discussion questions by Dr. Melissa I. White, an ELA teacher and mental performance consultant with a doctorate in sport psychology. Go to the book →
Listen to it — The Audiobook Performed by Tavia Gilbert, winner of the Audie Award for Best Female Narrator and Booklist's Narrator of the Year. Go to the audiobook →
Ages 10 and up, grades 5-8. No profanity or sexual content.
Give a Maggie Award
Coaches and clubs hand out Maggie Vaults Over the Moon as an award at vault meets, camps, clinics, and street vault events. Vaulters take home the book as recognition for their best effort of the day.
Quantity discounts are available, along with social media coverage of your club, camp, or event.
For Educators
Maggie is read in middle school classrooms and used in library programs and book clubs. The Second Edition includes chapter discussion questions written for young readers.
Catholic Schools Maggie for Catholic schools →
Bulk and classroom orders Volume pricing for classroom sets and team sets. Contact us →
Grain Valley Publishing is an independent press in Wichita, Kansas. We publish a small number of books and stay with them for a long time.