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Fans in the Stands (The Kicks) - Softcover

Buch 12 von 12: The Kicks

Morgan, Alex

 
9781534428102: Fans in the Stands (The Kicks)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1534428100 ISBN 13: 9781534428102
Verlag: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022

Inhaltsangabe

From FIFA World Cup Champion, Olympic gold medalist, and bestselling author Alex Morgan comes the twelfth and final book in an empowering and fun-filled middle grade series about soccer and friendship.

There are only two games separating the Kicks from the regional championship title. And with the Kentville Kangaroos boys’ team also on their way to the championship, Devin can’t contain her excitement for her friends!

That is until Steve, Devin’s crush, admits that he doesn’t think girl soccer players are as good as the boys.

Devin’s certain that the only want to prove him wrong is to work hard and player harder, like she’s always done. Instead, the Kicks and the Kangaroos place a bet: Whoever can get the most fans in the stands at their games is clearly the better team.

But when their plans to bring in spectators puts both of their championship games in jeopardy, Devin has to make a choice. Is beating the boys worth risking the title the Kicks have played so hard for?

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Alex Morgan became the youngest member of the US women’s national soccer team in 2009 and competed in the 2011 FIFA World Cup. She was the first overall pick in the 2011 Women’s Professional Soccer draft and landed a spot on the US Olympic women’s soccer team in 2012. At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, held in London, Morgan won her first Olympic medal, a gold, with the American team. In 2015, she achieved her lifelong goal of winning a World Cup trophy, in the most-watched soccer match in US history. She now plays for the Orlando Pride in Orlando, Florida.

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Chapter One CHAPTER ONE


“Score! Rose Lavelle scores!” the announcer yelled. We were in Emma’s movie room, and I jumped up from the couch, nearly knocking off Zoe, who was right next to me.

“Yes!” I pumped my fist into the air as the other players of the US Women’s National Soccer team slapped Rose on the back in congratulations on Emma’s practically-movie-screen-size television.

My best friend, Jessi, high-fived me. Some of the other Kicks were also there.

“We’re winning!” Jessi crooned. Her hair, which she used to wear in long braids, was a mass of supercute black springy curls that shot out in all directions.

“Yes, but I’m gonna need to switch seats,” Zoe chimed in. “Devin, you almost knocked over my drink!”

Zoe was the only one of us wearing a dress, but it was sporty—an off-the-shoulder black Adidas T-shirt dress, with cool white kicks. She was growing out her short hair, and it was starting to curl behind her ears. Zoe was always fashion forward.

“Oops, sorry!” I shrugged. “But you know how excited I get!”

Emma laughed. “I told my mom we should consider putting a tarp over the couches because of what happened last time.”

I winced. During the World Cup the previous summer, in my excitement over the US women’s team’s win, I’d spilled red punch all over my seat. Mrs. Kim, Emma’s mom, had been really nice about it, but I had been soooooo embarrassed.

“Don’t remind me,” I told Emma. She was the tallest of my friends and looked sporty too, with her long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a T-shirt with the emblem of the South Korean flag emblazoned in the middle of a soccer ball.

We were watching one of the games in the US Women’s National Soccer team victory tour, after they’d won the World Cup. Today was a friendly match with Korea Republic, which was how FIFA, the International Federation of Association Football, referred to the South Korean women’s team. Emma and her family were South Korean, and she debated over who to cheer for.

“Since it’s a friendly game, I’m going to go ahead and root for Korea,” she’d explained nervously when we’d first gotten to her house.

“Oh, don’t worry, Devin,” Emma said now as she threw an arm around my shoulder. “We’ll just have to keep an eye on you. Maybe we should put you in the playroom for a little bit to calm down.”

Emma’s house was the perfect place to watch the game. It was more like a mansion than a house. The movie room was huge, with sliding glass doors leading out to the backyard, which had an in-ground pool. A large leather sectional surrounded the huge television screen, and there were comfy reclining chairs in place behind it. A long bar along the back wall had tall stools and every kind of soft drink we could imagine, including a new machine that poured out water or seltzer, and ten different fruit flavors we could add to it. Even though I could have had a soda, which I wasn’t allowed to have at home, I loved trying all the different-flavored seltzers, so that was usually what I drank when I went to Emma’s.

The playroom Emma was referring to was just down the hall from the movie room. It used to be for her and her brothers, but she had a large family with lots of little cousins, so they still used it all the time.

“When the nugget gets bigger, I’ll have to bring him,” Jessi said. The nugget was Jessi’s newborn baby brother, Oliver, who was the cutest baby I’d ever seen. He was so happy and smiley, and almost never cried. Oliver was way different from my little sister, Maisie, who had screamed all the time when she was a baby. Now that she was eight, she could be okay sometimes, but I was glad earbuds had been invented, so I could tune her out when I needed to.

“There’s a casting call for babies for a new line of organic baby food,” Frida chimed in. “Your mom should take Oliver. He’s a natural.”

Frida was the only person I’d ever met in person who had been on TV. She was the same age as the rest of us, and played soccer too, but her true passion was acting. She’d been in a bunch of commercials. Her biggest role so far had been in Mall Mania, a TV movie that she’d costarred in with the singer Brady McCoy. She’d played his sister. Come to think of it, I guess Frida wasn’t the only person I’d met who had been on TV, because she’d gotten Brady to show up for one of our soccer fund-raisers, and we’d all gotten to meet him. He was really nice. Emma was a superfan, and I’d thought she was going to pass out, because she completely freaked out when she met him.

“I don’t think my mom will go for that,” Jessi said.

Frida shrugged. “Not everyone is called to be an actor,” she said, a bit dramatically. Frida loved drama, and she loved to stand out, dressing in funky outfits and vintage clothing. Today she was toned down in yoga pants and a T-shirt, her long, reddish-brown hair falling in curls over her shoulders.

“That’s true,” Jessi said. “Who knows what Oliver will be like when he gets older? All he does now is sleep and eat. And speaking of eating—Emma, that soccer field snack stadium is amazing. And delicious!”

Emma beamed. “My mom and I worked on it all week,” she said.

I joined Jessi as she went back to the table next to the bar where the food was set up. Emma and her mom had gone all out and re-created a soccer stadium, filling it with edible goodies.

The field was made out of guacamole, with soft white cheese piped onto it to make the boundary lines, and the goals made out of square pretzels. The back wall of the stadium had cute little American and South Korean flags with toothpick flagpoles.

Carrot sticks with olive heads looked like tiny soccer players on the field. Emma and her mom had cut up empty cereal boxes to make the stands and covered them with white paper and soccer ball stickers. The stands were filled with food: hot dogs, slider burgers, sushi, veggies, dip, potato chips, Cheez Doodles, cookies, candy, fruit, and popcorn. There were so many choices, I almost couldn’t decide what to eat.

I filled a paper cup with M&M’s and brought them back to the couch so I could snack on them while we watched the rest of the game. As I settled onto the sofa, Jessi sat next to me, with a plate piled high with sushi and potato chips.

“Mmm, sushi,” Jessi said.

Zoe moved to the far end of the sectional away from me. “No offense, Devin, but this is a new dress, and I don’t want to ruin it.”

“It’s only M&M’s,” I protested, holding my cup out and shaking it so she could see. With that, a cascade of the brightly colored candies came pouring out onto my lap.

Everyone started cracking up.

“See? I’m staying right here,” Zoe said.

“Oh, Devin,” Emma said as I scooped M&M’s up from my lap and popped them into my mouth, “you might need to go into the playroom after all.”

“I can’t help it if you packed so many awesome things into the soccer snack stadium,” I said.
...

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Verlag
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Erscheinungsdatum
2022
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1534428100
ISBN 13 
9781534428102
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
128
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Verantwortliche Person
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