Enthusiastic but clumsy—“It’s not you, it’s all this ice!” says his mother, but the other penguins don’t seem to have a problem—Sergio finds himself playing goal in a last-ditch attempt to keep himself in the game. Marred by awkward writing—“The entire team celebrates and cheers with joy!”—and a hard-to-track spread of game action, everypenguin Sergio’s second outing doesn’t measure up to his first, Sergio Makes a Splash! (2008). Still, there’s something engaging in watching the klutzy bird grow from a soccer legend—in his own mind—to a true winning goalie through hard work. Clobbered over and over by the ball in the pale-orange–and-turquoise woodblock illustrations, Sergio will draw plenty of sympathy as he goes from always being the last penguin picked for a team (“I’ll take the fish,” says the captain) to guarding the goal for the climactic game against the hulking Seagulls. Victory is sweet, especially when it’s earned. (Picture book. 6-8)
