The Soccer Secret

The Zach & Zoe Mysteries #4

by Mike Lupica, Chris Danger (Illustrator)

The fourth book in the Zach and Zoe Mysteries--a sports-themed chapter book mystery series by New York Times bestselling author Mike Lupica. Perfect for fans of Cam Jansen!

There's nothing eight-year-old twins Zach and Zoe Walker love more than playing sports and solving mysteries. And when those two worlds collide . . . well, it doesn't get any better than that.

Soccer season is underway, and though Zach and Zoe play on different travel teams, they're on the same team when it comes to solving mysteries. So when a package arrives in the mail addressed to Zach, the twins are surprised to find a soccer jersey identical to the one Zach wears for his team. But Zach's jersey is in his closet--so who does this jersey belong to and why did they send it? It's a soccer secret--and Zach and Zoe are on the case!

Once again, bestselling author Mike Lupica charms his youngest readers yet with a sports-loving detective duo who can swing for the fences and catch the culprit in one fell swoop. With a recipe equal parts sports and mystery, the Zach and Zoe Mysteries break fresh ground for an author who has been called the greatest sportswriter for kids.

Genres: Sports, Realistic Fiction, Mystery, Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

Published January 29, 2019

About the author

Michael Lupica is an author and American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the New York Daily News and his appearances on ESPN.

Reviews

[Ruth Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is part of a new mystery series by author Mike Lupica about 8 year old twins Zach and Zoe who love to solve mysteries. It is strong on family interactions and values.
Perfect for the younger crowd!

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sports' fans are going to love these. I can hardly wait to introduce them to my reluctant readers!

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure how many years it took me but I finally finished this itty bitty book! 😆😆😆 I began reading it to my son one night, and he ended up finishing it the next day on his own. He wanted me to move on to something else, so we put it back on the shelf. After seeing it listed on my currently reading list for entirely too long, I decided to pull it off the shelf again and read it. I liked that siblings Zach and Zoe have a pretty close and supportive relationship and that Zoe's a very clever and observant kid. The mystery isn't too hard to figure out, which is nice for early chapter book readers. However, the math doesn't add up for their cousin's age-- he was supposed to have moved to another state when he was 10 and the twins were babies. Now they're about 9, but their cousin has just graduated college. So either Lupica forgot to mention that the cousin's a genius who graduated three or four years early, or Lupica and the editorial staff didn't check their math.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son checked these books out from the public library and has really been enjoying them. I read the hockey book first, and I think I liked the mystery better in that book because the mystery in this book seems to be very easy for young readers to figure out, unlike the hockey book. But this was still a good book. I think it has great aspects because there is a mystery to be solved and it involves sports. How much more entertaining can that be for a young reader? Especially, if they are like my son who enjoys both.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zoe and Zach are third grade twins who love soccer and solving mysteries. When Zach gets a mysterious soccer jersey in the mail that is almost identical to his own jersey, the twins set out to find out who the mystery sender is.

I like this book for the soccer talk and sportsmanship displayed. We have many soccer fans at our international school who I think will enjoy this particular book.

[Nicole]

Read this out loud to my kindergartener/6-year-old. He enjoyed it and would like to read more in the series.

I don’t feel like I can rate it because I don’t have a lot to compare to for this reading level. We’re just starting to read more chapter books at this level.

[Sarahs Reads ToKids]

My son is also a twin with a girl and this is both their first year playing soccer together but they are not playing on the same team. My son enjoyed this book and was intrigued to keep reading to find out what the secret was.