This predictable story revolves around fifteen-year-old Lucy, transplanted from Ohio to Malibu after her mother's death. Attempting to make friends, she tries out for the school soccer team but does not make the cut. She is an excellent athlete, however, and when the boys' varsity football team's kicker is sidelined, the soccer coach convinces Lucy to try out. Despite knowing nothing about football, Lucy makes the team. She must now show her coach, teammates (who do not want a girl on the team), and her over protective father (who forbids Lucy to play) that she deserves her position. She must also deal with vindictive cheerleaders. Before understanding her potential and realizing who her true friends are, Lucy alienates her soccer friends and her one true friend on the football team. Unlike Catherine Gilbert Murdock's Dairy Queen (Houghton Mifflin, 2006/VOYA June 2006), a solid coming-of-age story about a girl playing football, this novel is a fluff piece. The stereotypical gruff football coach quickly softens. Lucy has the proverbial crush on the cute quarterback. Her actions alienate her friends. The football scenes are devoid of excitement. Tigelaar's handling of the major issue-Lucy's father's unilateral decision to remove life support on her terminally ill mother and the impact of her death-has no depth. Although Lucy shows some growth, the remaining characters are static in a harmless, mindless, happy ending story. Reviewer: Ed Goldberg
April 2008 (Vol. 31, No. 1)