Kylie Jean Football Queen

Kylie Jean is a very energetic girl from Texas. Her dream is to one day be a beauty queen. But for now she's happy to finally be old enough to be a Little Dazzler and get to dance at one of the high school football games. She has been working so very hard to be the best Little Dazzler possible and to to make her mom and the neighbor girl who selected her for the team proud. The problem is, though, that her brother T.J. is the quarterback for the football team and she is his good luck charm. But Kylie Jean has been selected to dance during the Homecoming game. Kylie's not sure about whether she should dance as a Little Dazzler or be in the stands cheering on her brother as his good luck charm. How will Kylie Jean work through her latest dilemma?

 

I give this book:

 

 

 

Fun Features:

 

* told in first person narrative form

* Kylie Jean sounds like a southern belle

* you can hear the enthusiasm through Kylie Jean's voice

* you become invested in Kylie Jean's success

* great plot

 

 

I really enjoyed this book in the series about Kylie Jean. This would be a great book for girls who have dreams and want to see how to achieve them. Kylie Jean is a very exuberant, boisterous character that you can't help but cheer for. She is that girl that everyone wants to be friends with because she is just such a sweetheart.

 

 

 



This Gum for Hire (A Chet Gecko Mystery #6)

Chet Gecko is a very smartmouthed little detective. He and his bird partner, Natalie Attired, are risking their own necks to try and solve the latest mystery. One by one, the members of the football team are going missing. A Herman the Gila Monster has "hired" them to find them and bring them back before their next big game. Unfortunately, he's not very subtle about pressuring Chet to hurry up and solve the case. Chet, a very small lizard, even has to resort to joining the team to get closer to the football players and try to come up with some more clues. Will Chet be able to solve this mystery or will he be flattened by his enemy, Herman the Gila Monster?

 

 

I give this book:

 

 

Fun Features:

 

* great humor

* excellent figurative language

*entertaining story line

* amusing main character

* good title choices

 

 

I was really amused by this book. There was great voice from the very start. The plot was also very engaging and the culprit wasn't glaringly obvious. My biggest concern for this book is that there is so much figurative language and vague humor that I'm not sure that students below 5th grade would really be able to understand it.

 

 



Super Soccer Freak Show (Wiley & Grampa's Creature Features #4)

Nate the Great and the Stolen Base

 

Nate the Great is off on another mystery. The baseball team's second base has gone missing. But it is not your traditional base. It is a rubber octopus. As Nate follows the clues, he begins to realize that this octopus was already a few tentacles short. Nate the Great is determined to do whatever it takes to solve the mystery of the stolen base.

 

 

I give this book a rating of:

 

 

Notable Features:

 

* easy text

* illustrations match the text

* storyline is easy to follow

 

 

I did not care for this book at all. I didn't find it interesting, and I find it hard to believe that most kids' interest in this book would have been piqued. There is pretty much nothing in this book that has to do with sports, outside of the initial setting and that the missing item was a "base." I would not recommend this book to anyone.

 

 

 

 



Emma Dilemma and the Soccer Nanny

 

Emma Dilemma is a 9 year-old girl full of all kinds of drama. She has so many expectations for how her life SHOULD be working. This young lady certainly wants to be in charge of her own destiny.

 

In this third book about Emma Dilemma, she is trying to convince her mom to let her awesome, former soccer-playing nanny be the chaperone for her upcoming soccer trip to Washington D.C. Her mom is not so sure that this would be a good idea. In the meantime, Emma is also struggling with the relationship she has with another girl on the team, pet problems in her house, besides dealing with her 4 siblings and father who could be going on strike soon.

 

Emma is a very intriguing character that you can't help but cheer for. If you think this sounds interesting, then you definitely have to read the whole book and find out how her and her siblings end up having a strike of their own and getting themselves in the newspaper.

 

How is Emma Dilemma going to work her way through all of this?

 

I give this book a rating of:

 

 

 

Reasons this book is great:

 

* Emma Dilemma is a dynamic character

* real life problems that kids and parents have

* this book teaches many life lessons

* instills hope

* will make you laugh

 

 

This was a really cute book. But if you are looking for a book that is mostly about sports or soccer, this is not the book. It has a very great plotline, but the majority of the book is about Emma at home or her thinking about how she's going to handle her soccer trip. If you like Emma as a character, it may be worthwhile to go read some of the other books in this series.

 

 

 

The Captain Contest

The Captain Contest is a great book to start with if you are interested at all in reading sports fiction! It has a great story line with characters that could be your best friend!                                

In this first book of Soccer 'Cats 10 year-olds Dewey and Bundy are trying to get on one of the summer soccer league teams. On top of that competition, there is also a drawing competition - whoever draws the best logo will be named captain of their team.               

A problem arises, though, because Dewey wants to enter the contest, just because he loves to draw, and his best friend Bundy wants to enter, so that he can be the team captain. Will the captain contest ruin the relationship between these two best friends? This book is worth reading to find out!

 

 

 

 

I give this book:

 

 

 

Plot Perks:

 

* great character development

* realistic character problems

* excellent combining of storyline and sports

* satisyfing ending

 

 

This was the first great book in the Soccer 'Cats series. I think that it's pretty exciting that this book is part of a series. This is a pretty easy read, but the plot is a very satisfying one. It definitely has good character development and Matt Christopher does a great job making you want to read more and to cheer on the main character. I would definitely be interested in reading more Soccer 'Cats.

The Case of the Snowboarding Superstar (A Jigsaw Jones Mystery #29)

In this sports fiction/mystery book, Jigsaw Jones is headed to Vermont for a snowboarding vacation. Jigsaw is planning to spend the week learning how to "shred the pow wow" (snowboard) and also put his detective work behind him as well. But upon arriving to the resort, Jigsaw instantly gets pulled into a mystery. There is a huge snowboarding competition at Blue Mountain Resort with several big names. But upon arriving Lance Mashman, a snowboarding superhero, has his lucky bandanna go missing. Will Jigsaw be able to work his way through this mystery before the big competition?

 

I give this book:

 

 

Fun Features:

 

* great humor

* great supporting illustrations

* fun main character

*good mystery to solve

*thought-provoking chapter titles

 

 

I was surprised, but I absolutely loved this book! I was instantly pulled into this book through the use of idioms. This story was very well-written with lots of voice that keeps the reader involved and engaged. I have a lot of these books in my room and I look forward to reading more of this series.