Assuming that a chapter book is based in the world of realistic fiction, and it isn’t a humor book, middle to upper-elementary school readers can smell schmaltz from a mile away. This isn’t the good variety either. This is the smelly, faux-earnest, lesson learning aroma that has the power to drive audiences away just as the DJ parts the crowds when they play a slow song at the sixth-grade dance. That was one of the things that readers will immediately recognize, and appreciate about Soccer Trophy Mystery. It’s devoid of any overt lessons that adults might want to teach and tells a believable story, complete with enough sports talk to weave in certain audiences.
Certain audiences, in that some readers are not attracted to sports-themed books, much in the way that it’s a subject some readers exclusively seek out. I taught a fourth-grade girl who was like that. Every day on her desk there was some book about baseball, many of which were also written by Fred Bowen. I remember gently kidding her as I suggested that she read a book on science. She would counter that I didn’t know the thrill of baseball and continued to tell me about her game the past week.
As a youth, I was on the opposite side of her. All of my books were science-fiction, horror or humor-based. I wasn’t especially gifted in any team sport and my choices in books followed suit. The 10-year-old version of me would still enjoy Soccer Trophy Mystery and that is 100% due to how much respect Bowen has for young readers.
Based on its title one might think that Soccer Trophy Mystery would be akin to a ‘mystery’ series that’s intended for younger audiences. It’s one where the characters would be hokey, perhaps have a talking animal and the culprit would be revealed by yanking off a face mask. Through a comedic lens, that premise might entirely work, but in Soccer Trophy Mystery, the story is played out through a dash of realistic soccer play, friendship, and the curiosity that any kid of any age will have.
The result is a book that speaks to middle-elementary through middle-middle school readers in a way that feels like a peer is having a conversation with them. There are a couple of obligatory text messages with the majority of the text being crafted in a way that will challenge younger readers, while reassuring middle school readers.
Those middle school readers that might be reading a level or two below their peers can be tough to engage. Part of that is due to the fact that they’re embarrassed at either being pulled out of class for EIP or they’re used to not doing the same work as their friends. Assuming that they like sports, this is a great book for those readers because their soccer competition is a minor subplot. There are two chapters that are exclusively devoted to gameplay and the competition that the kids are having in their league.
I am convinced that every kid wants to read, it’s just that finding the book that they want to reach, can be challenging.
The main plot of Soccer Trophy Mystery is about a soccer trophy that’s gone astray. Actually, it’s been missing for 40 years, so why would some kids care about it now? And how could that parlay into the real-world story about the missing World Cup Trophy? Wait, the World Cup Trophy is missing, I didn’t know that.
Those are examples of ways that the book makes readers curious. The real-world story about the World Cup Trophy is true, talked about in the book, and then given its own post scrip after the book ends. There are a couple of true events that are touched upon in the book that are also given more description there too. These are ways for kids to read more non-fiction about things that they might otherwise not have read about. The chapters in Soccer Trophy Mystery are between five and nine pages and are at a level where some middle-elementary school students can read them. However, the book is not babyish at all, this makes it OK for those reluctant or delayed readers who are in middle school to enjoy it. Whether young readers come for the soccer and stay for the story, or jump in for the words and become curious about playing soccer, it’s a great fit. It’s also worth noting that this is the 24th book in the series. Apparently, I’ve been living under a literary mglit rock.
Soccer Trophy Mystery is written by Fred Bowen and is available from Peachtree Publishing Company.
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