Soccer Scoop: Who's making a fool of Mac? (Matt Christopher Sports Fiction)
Grade 3-5AWhen a cartoon appears in the school newspaper making fun of Mac's "motor mouth," the boy tries to find out who is responsible. This is one of Christopher's typical play-by-play sports stories with an upbeat ending and simple vocabulary and sentence structure. However, the plot is not particularly memorable. Mac has the bravado and confident personality often necessary for a successful goalie, but with all of his bragging, readers will wonder how he has any friends. Conversation between characters doesn't ring true and slang such as "You look spiffy" or the reference to a girl getting all "dolled up" for a dance sounds like phrases from the '40s or '50s rather than the '90s. Consider this for purchase only if more sports stories by Christopher are needed.ABlair Christolon, Prince William Library, Manassas, VACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.