THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

A 12-year-old soccer star contends with joining an all-girls soccer team for the first time.

Valeria “Magic” Salomón is used to standing out as both the only girl in the league and the best player on the team in her Utah hometown. But the news that Tía Antonella has passed away in Argentina arrives just as Magic gets her first period and embarrassingly bleeds through her white shorts in front of everyone during a State Cup match. This perfect storm of calamities throws Magic off her game. After they lose, she’s kicked off the team. Worse, her grandfather is the coach; Valeria has been raised by her paternal grandparents (she doesn’t know her birth mother, and her father, who was 17 when she was born, lives in Argentina). Though she knows Abuelo is grieving for his daughter, Valeria still feels betrayed that he’s let the assistant coach cut her, and she’s increasingly frustrated by Abuelo’s emotional distance. When Maxwell, Tía Antonella’s son, joins them in the U.S. and is given her spot on her old team, Magic has had enough. This tough and resilient protagonist is easy to root for as she talks her way onto a girls’ soccer team, despite having missed the tryouts. The narrative and action flow smoothly as Magic nervously navigates friendships with girls on her new team, adjusts to having a coach who prioritizes teamwork over relying on a hotshot, and navigates changing family dynamics at home.

Fast paced and tenderhearted.