Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Shutout by Brendan Halpin

Amanda loves soccer--so does her best friend Lena. The two are inseparable and unstoppable on the soccer field. Until Amanda contracts Severs disease (heel pain) and can't keep up.

So when it comes down to tryouts before their freshman year of high school, Amanda's sure they'll still be playing together. But they aren't. Lena gets bumped up to varsity while Amanda's left on JV. At first, this really bothers Amanda, but she tries to shrug it off and still be Lena's best friend. Until Lena starts ignoring her. Amanda can't take it anymore and tells her off. And the friendship that lasted 6 years is over.

Amanda realizes things have to change, but didn't think it would happen so soon. Then the varsity team makes a huge mistake that costs them their rights to play and the JV needs to step up.

Amanda's a likable character and while the book is mostly about friendships and soccer, there's humor here too. The story is well-written and for someone who doesn't know a lot about soccer, I was never lost in any of the jargon (there isn't a lot). I could hardly put this book down.

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