April 15, 2013
Olympic gold medalist Morgan runs down the celebrity-sports-fiction checklist in this series opener: New school? Check. New friends? Check. New boyfriend? Maybe! New soccer team? Check. Inspire said team to take on snooty archrival private school? Check. Quickly shedding perfunctory initial reservations, Devin sails into seventh grade at Kentville Middle School, makes instant connections in class and at Kangaroos soccer tryouts. She meets requisite bully Mirabelle at the latter, then goes on to be elected team co-captain. After a disastrous start to the season, she helps her team's members and even the less-than-rigorous coach land on the same winning page. Following a sleepover, a dance, team-building drills and exercises, pep rallies, minor problem-solving and motivational strategizing, Devin prods the Kangaroos into position to beat the haughty Pinewood Panthers in a climactic rematch while also schooling Mirabelle, who has jumped ship to join the rival team. Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes. (soccer glossary) (Fiction. 8-10)
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June 1, 2013
Gr 4-6-This formulaic story follows 12-year-old Devin, who has just left her friends and soccer team behind, moving cross country with her family. There is a lot of expected angst in the beginning of the story. Will she like her new school? Make new friends? And since California is known for producing superstar soccer players, will she even make the team? While quickly learning the ropes at her new school and instantly making friends-and perhaps even gaining a boyfriend-the plot twist is revealed: Devin's new soccer team isn't great at all-in fact, it is downright bad. Throw in a bossy/bully older teammate as cocaptain against Devin, and the rest of the blanks will be easily filled in by most readers. Despite its predictability, the novel conveys some solid messages about teamwork and assertiveness. Purchase where there is a demand for sports stories with strong female role models.-Lisa Kropp, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2013
When Devin moves from Connecticut to California, the seventh grader is shocked to discover that her new school has "the world's worst soccer team." She quickly makes friends and works to turn the team around. The story follows a predictable arc, but Morgan, an Olympic gold-medalist, does a good job conveying the difficult balance between working hard and having fun.
(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)