Soccer Scoop by Matt Christopher

          Soccer Scoop is a book by the author Matt Christopher. His books are all very good and he is one of the few prolific children's authors who doesn't stray into a pattern.  All of his books have sports in them but the story lines are not predictable.  My favorite books are the ones about soccer because that is my favorite sport.  He writes about every sport imaginable, but particularly baseball, basketball and football.  He also writes books on snowboarding, biking and even rollerblading!

Soccer scoop is a book about you guessed it, soccer. The premise of the story is that the talented goalie Mac Williams is known for two things: his athletic saves and his motor mouth. One day at school after a game, the school paper The Chronicle makes an insulting comic about his endless talking and how it affects the team.  Mac tries to find out who the cartoonist is by setting traps, doing embarrassing thing only around people he thinks might be the cartoonist. But can he do so without losing a close friend who is a reporter for the chronicle?  Find out in the Soccer Scoop!

I only recently read this book, just under a week ago.  A while ago I received a pile of books by Matt Christopher from my older cousin, Keith, who had outgrown them.  I read every single one sitting in the basement tearing through book after book.  This is one of the few that he didn't have and I found at my grandparents house.  In my opinion this is one of the better books by Matt Christopher.  It has a lot of things going on at once and I like that about a book.  I also enjoy his description of the soccer games that they play- it's quite realistic.  This book has a few illustrations throughout it that show pictures of the main character playing soccer or deflecting goals.  I would recommend these books to kids who enjoy sports from ages 7+.  Good books for budding readers! 

 I only have one complaint on this book.  At the end when they find out who the mystery cartoonist is, Mac doesn't get very upset with that character.  I was a little surprised by that- I certainly would be upset but I guess you will have to be the judge.