Broad and effervescent.
A dive into the wild and sometimes wacky worlds of association football and related games.
Notable for breadth if not depth, this colorful overview aims to keep both new and confirmed fans of “the beautiful game” riveted with sustained flurries of loosely organized pictures and short entries. Basic guidelines to field positions and modern rules lead to a sweeping survey of the world of professional play, with profiles of 10 soccer superstars (five men, five women), select record holders, 10 popular European clubs, and major international tournaments. Interspersed features include galleries of team shirts, celebratory dances, similar competitions from antiquity and other cultures, and modern variations like Robot-Ball and Motoball. The book covers how rules and balls have evolved over time and includes an assortment of soccer bloopers and weird incidents (like a 1954 match in Florence that was suspended following a UFO sighting). All of this information comes with a generous mix of diagrams, spot illustrations by Detwiler, and photos of racially diverse children and famous players. Giunta’s comics, featuring a newly formed squad of young animals who are learning how to play together, feel more like intrusions than necessary interludes. Still, the whole package has the quality of a pep rally and will benefit from young readers’ rising interest in the sport.
Broad and effervescent. (index, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9781797236643
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing.
In this graphic memoir by sports journalist Shah, a ninth grader pursues his passion in the face of familial expectations pushing him toward a medical career, while also navigating the perils of high school social life.
It’s 1995, and Indian American Amar is desperate to meet the Chicago Bulls—Michael Jordan, in particular—when they stop by his Orlando, Florida, school. A lucky break leads him to his first sports interview, with Phil Jackson, and his tenacity takes him further, leading to multiple conversations with Shaquille O’Neal. But Amar’s luck in journalism doesn’t spill over to his relationship with his crush, blond Kasey Page (“like a mixture of Cameron Diaz, Tinkerbell, and heaven”), or his efforts to remain close with best friends Rohit and Cherian, who start spending more time with other classmates. The work relies on captions as much as plot developments to propel the story. It also follows a broad cast of characters—close and former friends, antagonists, supportive adults, and famous athletes—who appear in multiple storylines. The story accurately depicts the complexities of life as a young teen, though overlapping life challenges pull it in multiple directions, leaving some threads underexplored and hastily wrapped up. Doucet illustrates the characters using loose, disjointed outlines that give the artwork a sense of movement, and the colorful backgrounds use patterns and action lines to indicate a wide array of emotions.
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing. (author’s note, photographs) (Graphic memoir. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781546110514
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An apt choice for collections that already have stronger alternatives, such as R.J. Palacio's Wonder (2012).
A memoir of the first 14 years in the life of Australian Robert Hoge, born with stunted legs and a tumor in the middle of his face.
In 1972, Robert is born, the youngest of five children, with fishlike eyes on the sides of his face, a massive lump in place of his nose, and malformed legs. As baby Robert is otherwise healthy, the doctors convince his parents to approve the first of many surgeries to reduce his facial difference. One leg is also amputated, and Robert comes home to his everyday white, working-class family. There's no particular theme to the tale of Robert's next decade and a half: he experiences school and teasing, attempts to participate in sports, and is shot down by a girl. Vignette-driven choppiness and the lack of an overarching narrative would make the likeliest audience be those who seek disability stories. However, young Robert's ongoing quest to identify as "normal"—a quest that remains unchanged until a sudden turnaround on the penultimate page—risks alienating readers comfortable with their disabilities. Brief lyrical moments ("as compulsory as soggy tomato sandwiches at snack time") appeal but are overwhelmed by the dry, distant prose dominating this autobiography.
An apt choice for collections that already have stronger alternatives, such as R.J. Palacio's Wonder (2012). (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-425-28775-0
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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