KICK

The police spot a Ford Taurus with no headlights on weaving down a street, and when the officer puts his lights on, the driver of the Ford brakes, speeds up and drives into a light pole. The driver is 13-year-old Kevin Johnson, with passenger Christy McNamara, a girl his age. Officer Evans takes Christy home and Kevin to the Bedford County Juvenile Detention Center on a stolen-car rap, driving without a license, damaging city property and kidnapping—serious charges that will strike readers as blown out of proportion. Indeed, the case never really is the point of the story, nor is the back story about the abuse of illegal immigrants. It’s the relationship between Kevin and Sgt. Brown, the officer asked to take the case, that’s central. The story is told in the alternating voices of Kevin and the sergeant—written by veteran Myers and a 17-year-old fan he asked to write with him—a narrative structure that works well for developing the two sides of the relationship, and plenty of soccer action will keep readers interested. (Fiction. 12 & up)