Filled with on-the-field soccer scenes, black-and-white artwork, and sports statistics throughout, this short novel—ideal for newly independent readers, athletes, and all sports fans—follows nine-year-old Ben and his fourth-grade team, the Bobcats, as they race to the Kickers League playoffs. Ben knows he's one of the team's strongest players, but he's been struggling with the jitters. He's just freezing up on the field. Can he pull through for his teammates now that they really need him?
This book, the last of the series, is all action. Some basketball, a cross-country race, and several soccer matches. Still, Wallace is able to establish the plot line around a friendship, not the fiel. Fun. Probably more for active kids who need a lot of action to sit still. And still, they'll probably feel the suspense too much to be able to be still through the reading.