Secret Weapon (Soccer Cats Series #3)

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-This well-written series successfully combines soccer action with good sportsmanship and family values. The characters seem like real people with flaws and problems. Hat Trick focuses on Stookie Norris, who desperately tries to score three goals in every game after his older brother is featured in the local paper for doing just that-scoring a hat trick. Only his shots matter to him because the more he takes, the more likely he is to achieve his goal. It takes a wise coach and a good friend to make Stookie into a team player. In Secret Weapon, Lisa is self-conscious because she is short, which makes it difficult for her to make a throw-in. When her coach discovers that she has gymnastic ability, he encourages her to work on a secret-weapon flip throw that helps her team gain points. One black-and-white ink illustration appears in each chapter. Facial expressions convey the characters' emotions and pictures of the field action capture the excitement of the games.Barb Lawler, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Card catalog description
Small for her age, Lisa Gaddy, the soccer team fullback, has trouble with her throw-ins from the sidelines until the coach devises a plan to turn her into a team asset.


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Ten short chapters continue the series about the coed soccer team with small problems. Fullback Lisa can't master the throw-in and doesn't know how to improve, short of growing three inches, until her coach steps in with an idea. It seems you can do a gymnastic flip and throw the ball in with more force—and it is legal, according to the coach's rule book. With his help and that of a babysitter, Lisa masters the flip throw-in because she has some gymnastic skills already and, after overcoming her timidity, allows her skeptical pal, Bundy, to make his first goal ever. And of course, they win the game. Soccer players are going to want to master this move, legal or not. An author's note or a warning would have been helpful here. This third book in the "Soccer Cats" series keeps track of the same characters and explores team dynamics just enough to satisfy the newly competent readers who crave a little characterization, a fast moving plot and short chapter books (less than 60 pages here). 2000, Little Brown, $13.95. Ages 7 to 9. Reviewer: Susan Hepler


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