Review: Shutout (Halpin)

Title: Shutout
Author: Halpin
Genre: Fiction, High School, Friendship, Soccer
Pages: 192
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Amanda is looking forward to the start of high school.  Even though her and BFF Lena are only starting 9th grade, they are sure that they will both make the varsity soccer team and this means popularity is secured!  Unfortunately, only Lena makes the team and Amanda is relegated to the JV squad.  Can their friendship survive?

As many of you know, I am a huge soccer fan, and since it is still World Cup, I decided to read an advance copy of this book (which will be published on 8/17.  The cover didn't look anything like this, so I'm interested to see what the final cover will look like).  This is the same Brendan Halpin who co-authored "The Half-Life of Planets," which I LOVED (see an earlier blog post for review of that book).

Soccer is wildly popular with EJH students, and this book will be a perfect read to get you in the mood for the start of soccer season.  But don't think that this is just a book about soccer.  It is really a story about friendship and how things can change when new friends, new priorities, and a new school are added to the mix.  Amanda is a realistic 14-year-old: funny, witty, and insecure.  Is Lena the best friend for her, or is it time to move on?  A good book about what it means to be a friend.