What's a girl to do when Mom and Dad announce that the whole family is moving to Scotland for a yearlong teacher exchange? Can you spell d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r? When Andrea gets there, she finds she and her family are living with the principal and she is being pestered by the ultraweird Jasmin. But then she finds an amazing girls' soccer league and a cute boy named Stewart. Will Andrea's new tough soccer girls accept that she is crushing on a boy from a rival team and not totally devoted to winning a championship?
I'm always on the lookout for fun sporty reads for my middle graders, so when I saw this one on our library's shelf, I was quick to pick it up. The cover is appealing and fun and my 9 year-old daughter is big into soccer. Add a year in Scotland and I was sold. The goodreads description doesn't mention stuttering, but for Andrea, most of her fears stem from her struggles in speech and the fact that moving to a new area means meeting new people. She even pretends to have laryngitis when she starts the new school yea so she won't have to open her mouth.
Andrea may be shy about talking, but give her a soccer ball and she lights up the playing field. But first she has to be courageous enough to ask to play. It was rather fun to discover Scotland with Andrea, the different food (the blah to the amazing fish and chips), the ancient buildings, often dreary, rainy days, and the cold the set into her bones, yet didn't keep her from kicking the soccer ball in the rain. I liked that the author explored friendships (real and otherwise) and explored Andrea's first crush, but how both her supposed friends and her voice held her back.
I highly recommend this book and am excited to explore more of R.W. Krech's titles. I'm tackling REBOUND next about a polish boy who wants to play on his high school's all-black basketball team.
If you missed last week's post, check out our own Kris Asselin and the release of her sporty YA Any Why You Slice It, here.
What's your favorite April read?
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