Booked by Kwame Alexander - ESSENTIAL

Alexander, Kwame Booked, 314 pgs. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016. Language: G (1 swear); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.  

Nick loves soccer and he’s a really good athlete. In fact, he’s the best player on his team.  His best friend Coby plays for a different team, and he’s the best, too.  Both teams have been invited to a very prestigious Soccer Tournament in Dallas, so the boys are very excited. Plus, the girl he likes probably likes him back!  Nick’s life should be perfect, but it isn’t.  He’s bullied at school, has a strict father who makes him read a dictionary for “homework” and now, his parents are separating and his mother is moving away to Kentucky leaving Nick with his dad.  

Kwame Alexander is an amazing poet.  This novel in verse reads like a soccer match; thrilling, poignant and full of excitement.  I love how Alexander takes a sports story and makes it really about a family problem. Oh, and it's also about reading! Lots of great books are mentioned, we have a champion for children's lit!  Such a great read. There are not enough soccer books out there; this one is a winner.  Goal!  

MS - ESSENTIAL  Lisa Librarian