Full of Broadway numbers and ’90s rock; a fun musical adventure with well-meaning disability representation.
An Australian 11-year-old is afraid it will break his mum’s heart if she learns he loves Broadway more than rock.
Mac Fleetwood Cooper and his brother, Stevie Nick Cooper, have a mother who’s a tiny bit into rock music. With his mum bent on living out her own frustrated Gwen Stefani rocker dreams through her sons, Mac knows she’ll never approve of his fascination with Broadway musicals. So the Secret Society of Broadway Musical Appreciation is like a dream come true. Mac becomes instant best friends with the SSOBMA pianist and composer, Flynn. Flynn, who’s a year older than Mac, has Tourette syndrome, a willingness to answer questions about it, and an extremely sunny disposition. This positivity comes in handy when the kids learn their school is canceling the arts program and SSOBMA plans a fundraising musical to save the arts. If only Mac can take part without his mother’s finding out. Flynn goes out of his way to explicitly debunk myths about Tourette, but his constant complex vocal tics still play into some overused Tourette tropes. Plotlines from earlier books in the series appear in the tidy conclusion without having had any real presence or explanation in this third series outing that nevertheless stands on its own. Characters are minimally described, but names cue some ethnic diversity in the cast.
Full of Broadway numbers and ’90s rock; a fun musical adventure with well-meaning disability representation. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2023
ISBN: 9780861545711
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Rock the Boat/Oneworld
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes.
Olympic gold medalist Morgan runs down the celebrity-sports-fiction checklist in this series opener: New school? Check. New friends? Check. New boyfriend? Maybe! New soccer team? Check. Inspire said team to take on snooty archrival private school? Check.
Quickly shedding perfunctory initial reservations, Devin sails into seventh grade at Kentville Middle School, makes instant connections in class and at Kangaroos soccer tryouts. She meets requisite bully Mirabelle at the latter, then goes on to be elected team co-captain. After a disastrous start to the season, she helps her team’s members and even the less-than-rigorous coach land on the same winning page. Following a sleepover, a dance, team-building drills and exercises, pep rallies, minor problem-solving and motivational strategizing, Devin prods the Kangaroos into position to beat the haughty Pinewood Panthers in a climactic rematch while also schooling Mirabelle, who has jumped ship to join the rival team.
Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes. (soccer glossary) (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8570-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Simplistic, but a straight shot on goal.
Despite poor first impressions, an aggressive new student earns a spot as goalkeeper on the local soccer team.
Loud, pushy new arrival Shane definitely seems to come with an attitude problem in this simple tale, told from the perspective of one of Shane’s teammates and originally published in 2021 in the U.K. A few days later, however, the source of the chip on his shoulder becomes clear when the North Park Juniors take the pitch. When Shane shows up to play, his bossy, verbally abusive stepfather, Mick, is in tow, screaming orders and insults from the sidelines. The story, which is printed with what the publisher calls “dyslexia-friendly fonts and paper tones,” is laid out with extra spacing between the short sentences and paragraphs. The author also takes multiple breaks to examine historical feats and foibles of renowned goalies of the past. The plot goes on to follow a fairly direct course. After the police haul Mick away in the wake of a chair-throwing tantrum, a more emotionally stable Shane shows up the following weekend to perform heroic exploits in a hard-fought climactic match. Physical descriptions in the text are minimal; young players and adults in Chalik’s frequent illustrations are woodenly drawn but feature a mix of light- and dark-skinned faces.
Simplistic, but a straight shot on goal. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781454954842
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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