Soccer Sabotage

September 1, 2009
Gr 3-6-Nadia is put in charge of the London Lions soccer team when Nate Bowers, her coach, suffers a fall just as the team makes it to the under-18 Canadian national championships. She faces pressure from her teammates, who doubt her leadership ability, and from Aidan, the rival teams assistant coach. Nadia is lucky, though. She has had a lot of good training from her coach and she has her younger brother. Devin, with the help of Coach Bowerss son, is determined to find out who is out to sabotage the London Lions. Theres some clever dialogue, and the full-color cartoons have a lot of action, particularly Nadias hair-raising escape from the villain at the end. This entertaining story provides soccer instruction as well as mystery."Lisa Gieskes, CA Johnson Preparatory Academy, Columbia, SC"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2009
Grades 4-7 Nadia and her younger brother, Devin, who survived a wilderness adventure in Wild Ride (2007), find themselves embroiled in a sports mystery. Nadias soccer team has made it to the national under-18 soccer tournament, but trouble dogs the team. Their coach falls down the stadium stairsor was he pushed?and he is now in the hospital, with Nadia temporarily in charge of the team. Devin and Coach Bowers son, Stewart, decide to investigate and find a couple of suspects: the tournament director, who is Coachs former rival, and the tournaments advertising manager. Meanwhile, Nadia has to deal with team members who dont think she deserves to be in charge and weather the attention of Aidan, assistant coach of a rival team. This book in the Graphic Guide Adventure provides plenty of soccer action; tips on how to dribble, pass, and protect the goal; and a solid mystery. Deas draws a multicultural cast, and its also nice to see the best kicker is not a slender little girl. The story should appeal to both boys and girls.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)