Soccer Chick Rules

FitzGerald (Getting in the Game) offers another sports novel, this one narrated by a likable eighth grader who admits that ""sports are the only reason I bother to attend school. Everything else is just warm-up or pregame."" Tess gets involved up to the top of her soccer socks as a vote approaches involving a levy determining whether or not school sports will be funded. In her somewhat contrived words, ""when the school district put the athletic programs on the line-foul move, by the way-I figured a jockette's got to stand up for something other than a pop fly."" Tess and her best friend, goalie of the boy's soccer team, join a student committee (chaired by a grating cheerleader) to lobby for a pro-sports vote. This effort involves canvassing the neighborhood and humorous run-ins with Tess's neighbor-a boy- and dance-obsessed girl who, much to Tess's chagrin, begins dating her older brother Mark. As Tess campaigns tirelessly for the levy, Mark accuses her of having a one-track mind, leading her to comment that she has ""a two-track mind,"" since her other fixation is helping her team win the last soccer game of the season. Though FitzGerald (a soccer coach) adds plenty of swift on-field action as Tess's team heads toward this goal, non sports-minded kids may tire of the tale's two-track theme. On the winning end, the narrative features credible characters, wise-cracking teenspeak and an unexpected final twist. Ages 11-up.