You Can't Spike Your Serves

June 1, 2011

Gr 2-5-Alicia wants to help her pen pal, Jenny, earn money to purchase new pom-poms, and when an Olympic volleyball player comes to school to teach the fourth graders her sport, Alicia comes up with the idea of a tournament to raise the needed funds. Learning the sport is fun, and Alicia, a good jumper, especially enjoys spiking the ball. She discovers how hard serving is without being able to jump, but Reese suggests the perfect technique for her. Manga-style graphics give this book a cutting-edge look and enhance understanding of the text. Short chapters, colorful cartoon illustrations, and engaging subject matter make this title appropriate for those new to chapter books as well as older readers.-Rachel Artley, Watertown Elementary School, TN

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2011
Grades 1-4 Victory School for Super Athletes is an elite academy in which every student has a super physical aptitude. Fourth-grader Alicia Gohl is a super jumper and has used this skill to become an accomplished cheerleader and tumbler. When Alicia learns that her friend Jenny's cheer squad at a nearby school is in need of funds for new pom-poms, she considers ways that she and the Victory School kids can help. Fortuitously, Olympic gold-medalist Reece Robinson arrives as a visiting PE instructor to teach the Victory School kids to play volleyball. Alicia hatches a plan, but it hinges on participating in a sport she can't play. Will she risk looking foolish at a schoolwide fund-raiser tournament to help a friend? Though the Victory School kids are super talented, they are also super relatable, and this installment in the Sports Illustrated Kids: Victory School Superstars series offers manageable chapters and bright, Archie Andrewsstyle illustrations that would be perfect for reading aloud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)