I grabbed this book because I love this publisher. They publish books for reluctant readers and lower level readers that allow major things to be talked about. This book covers death, losing friends, and socioeconomic status.

The book focuses on Dylan adjusting to life after his dad dies. His mom sold their house, sold their car, cancelled their cell phones, and moved them to the other side of town. Dylan loses his dad, his soccer team, everything he has known. He is angry, but no one can really blame him. So when he starts a fight during gym the principal’s punishment is having him join the soccer team. The story from there is Dylan learning what friendship really means.

My favorite part of the book is actually the focus on class. Dylan learns what it means to be poor. He can’t have the things he used to have. He notices that even the uniforms are different. He is very quick to judge everyone for being poor, he even refuses to eat a granola bar because it is a hand out. It was such a subtle and powerful look at class from a kid’s perspective. He learns that money isn’t everything. He learns that family and friends matter a lot more. So while playing paintball is really fun, it won’t be what you need when you are in trouble. I have to applaud the author for tackling such a difficult subject with this book and doing it really well. Dylan learned, but it didn’t feel like a Brady Bunch moment where everything was perfectly wrapped up. Dylan was still far from perfect.

There is a companion book to this one from the same author, Golden Game. There are two other books in the series by another author, Tournament Fugee and Team Fugee.

This is a fine book for reluctant readers or those wanting a good friends/sports book. Definitely a good offering to a reluctant reader

Adult readers will find this book predictable: Dylan's new soccer friends, refugees living in a poor part of town, prove more loyal than the friends from his previous team, and despite being the underdogs, they beat Dylan's former team to win the championship. But Starr writes well, and the reason so many sports stories follows this formula is that it works. Readers will cheer when two initial enemies become friends and work together to lead the team to victory. Recommended, especially for reluctant middle grade readers.