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.  

 

 



Ballpark Mysteries: The Fenway Foul-up

 

Kate has a mom that works as a sports writer and covers a lot of the Boston Red Sox games. Her cousin, Mike, is an avid sports junkie! Together, the two of them solve mysteries at the ballpark!

 

In this first book, Kate and Mike are at Fenway, with their all-access passes, watching batting practice when disaster strikes! Big D, the Red Sox best hitter, has his bat stolen right off the field during batting practice. This is Big D's lucky bat. The cousins know that Big D needs his bat to help the Red Sox win this game.

 

Kate and Mike decide it is up to them to solve this mystery. As the game progresses, the two cousins follow the clues and use their smarts to help them try to solve this mystery. Will these two cousins solve the mystery in time for the Red Sox to still win the game?

 

I give this book:

 

 

 

 

Book traits:

 

* easy storyline to follow

* tons of sports talk mixed in for the baseball lovers

* 2 very interesting and different main characters

* fun to try solve the mystery before they do!

* makes you want to cheer on Kate, Mike, AND the Red Sox!

 

 

I enjoyed reading this mystery book. I felt as if I was there looking at the Green Monster and helping solve the mystery with the cousins. This story was very well-written and is a good starter chapter book, especially for kids that love sports. I would definitely read more of the Ballpark Mysteries and recommend them to sports/baseball lovers!

 

 

 

 

 

Captain Awesome Takes a Dive

 

In this, the 4th Captain Awesome book, Eugene McGillicuddy is off to the Community Center pool for swimming lessons. He and his best friend Charlie, aka Nacho Cheese Man, quickly discover that even bad guys aren't afraid of the water.

 

In this book Captain Awesome and Nacho Cheese Man are back to fighting evil everywhere they go. They always have to be on guard because they are never sure when a bad guy might show up and attack. But evil doesn't always show up in human form.

 

As swimming lessons progress, we discover that Eugene cannot go into the deep end.

Will Eugene and Charlie make it into the deep end before lessons are over? Will Captain Awesome and his partner Nacho Cheese Man be able to defeat the evil that has taken over the pool? You've got to read this highly entertaining book to find your answers!

 

I give this book:

 

 

Fun Features:

 

* speech bubbles

* creative use of font/bold words

* catch phrase of 'MI-TEE!'

* tons of onomatopoeia

* entertaining illustrations

* amusing characters

Captain Awesome is a great book for kids just beginning to read chapter books. Eugene is a very likable character and he is easy to relate to. It's also great for kids to see how they can use their imagination in everyday life. The illustrations in this are fun as are the illustrations.

Coach Hyatt is a Riot (My Weird School Daze #4)

Pee Wee football season has begun and A.J. and his teammates have a new coach. The coach is a girl and she is a little bit crazy! She says and does all kinds of weird things that don't really have anything to do with football. A.J. and his team aren't really sure how the things that they are doing to practice are going to help them in any way when it comes to game time. The worst part is that she wants to have girls on the team.

 

A.J. is a very strange kid himself. He is the one telling the story and he has a very interesting take on the whole thing. This also includes his take on the crummy cheerleaders that Coach Hyatt has asked to be at the practices and games.

 

Will all Coach Hyatt's shenanigans lead to a win in their first game for the Moose?

 

 

I give this book:

 

 

Text features to check out!

 

* relatable main character

* great voice throughout

* repeating text that is entertaining

* it sounds just like an 8 year-old-boy is telling the story

* the main storyline actually is about football
 

 

 This is a really crazy book, just like the rest of the Weird School Daze books. I think that kids would love this book just because the characters have funny, silly personalities, just like some of them. There are also a lot of catchy phrases throughout the book that makes the book more predictable. Fun books for kids.

 

 

Brittany the Basketball Fairy

Brittany is a basketball fairy. But she has a problem. Her magical basketball has been stolen by goblons. They are determined to keep the magic ball all to themselves and to ruin the Fairy Olympics.

Rachel and Kirsty are girls that are determined to keep those nasty goblins from ruining Fairyland's Olympics. Rachel and Kirsty must come up with a plan to get the ball back from the goblins. But will they be able to return the ball back to Fairyland in time? Or will the goblin's have their own slam dunk triumph?

 

This would be a great sports book for girls. There is also a full Sports Fairies series inside the Rainbow Magic series that girl athletes would absolutely LOVE.

 

 

I give this book:

 

 

Tantalizing text features:

 

* same main characters from all the Rainbow Magic books

* pictures throughout for beginning chapter book readers

* fun use of basketballs on all the pages

* main characters could be your best friend

* great vocabulary

 

 

This was a really cute, easy read for girls. I was a little confused at the beginning of this book because they immediately began talking about fairies. But as the book progressed, it worked itself out so that it was perfectly clear.

 

 



Horrid Henry and the Soccer Fiend

 

 Horrid Henry is a very unique character. His name isn't Horrid Henry for no reason! In Henry's mind, he does no wrong, he makes no mistakes. He is very quick to speak his opinion and do whatever it takes to be the best at everything.

In the Horrid Henry series, the books all come with 4 stories. This book also has a story about Henry peeking in his brother's diary, the horrifying shopping adventures with his mom, and then how he deals with his arch enemy (his dad's boss's son)  joining his class.

In the actual story of Horrid Henry and the Soccer Fiend, his teacher, "Miss Battle-Axe," announces amazing news during class. For their school, her name was selected as the person to give away 2 tickets to a playoff game for their town's local soccer team. She has decided to have a soccer game for her class, and the best player will win the tickets. She makes it very clear, though, that her decision on the winner will be final.

 

Of course, with Horrid Henry being the way that he is, he was bound and determined to do whatever it would take to win those tickets. He was very annoyed though, because everyone knows that Moody Margaret is the best soccer player and that she would probably win. He was going to do whatever it took to ensure that he was the best player during the soccer match on that day during recess.

 

But being the horrid person that he is, Henry did everything that he could to win the game. This included cheating by tackling, tripping, and using his hands.

 

Will Horrid Henry win those tickets with his cheating ways? Or will Miss Battle-Axe choose a more deserving person to go to the game?

 



I give this book:

 

 

 

Terrific Text Features:

 

* 4 short stories in one book

* mesmerizing - you have to keep reading

* silly nicknames for all the characters

* he's the villain that you cheer against

* funny pictures throughout each story

 

 

 I can see why the Horrid Henrys are a favorite for kids. I did not find Henry to be a very enjoyable character. I don't like the way he talks to people or how he thinks that he does no wrong. But for children, that may know kids that act like this, I think it would be good for them to see that they don't always come out on top.

 

 

 



You're a Good Sport, Miss Malarkey

In this book about Miss Malarkey, she gets put in charge of the school's soccer team after two other coaches can't swing it. Miss Malarkey doesn't have a whole lot of knowledge about soccer, so she relies on books to help her learn the sport.

 

Unfortunately, not everyone is supportive of Miss Malarkey as a coach. The kids think she's great, because she accepts all their abilities and supports them no matter what their athletic/soccer ability.

But when they start playing games, and the parents fill the sidelines, the parents don't appreciate that Miss Malarkey wants the kids to learn sportsmanship and teamwork. The parents want the kids to win, win, WIN!

 

Miss Malarkey has finally had enough, changes the name of the team, and changes the behavior of the parents. In the end Miss Malarkey teaches the kids and the parents about the true value of playing sports.

 

I give this book:

 

 

 

Text Features:

 

* bright illustrations

* good message/lesson

*amusing

I really did like this book. It does teach a good lesson about teamwork and sportsmanship. I feel like this could be taken to some of the parents at sporting events so that they can maybe start to understand their impact on their children regarding sports.

 

 

Welcome!

On this blog I am hoping to bring about more interest in sports fiction. Sports fiction has never really been an interest of mine, but I have discovered some third grade friends that love sports and may therefore love sports fiction! Let's work our way through some of these books together!