Andy's Secret Weapon
James O'Loghlin
Donna Rawlins
Hotshots
Hodder 2004
79pp., obk., 10.95
0733618103
Every Saturday morning is a nightmare for Andy because it is the day he has to play soccer, and he hates it. He has no confidence in his ability to play so as soon as the ball comes his way he starts to think about what will happen if he messes up, and so, of course, he does.
During one game, while he is sitting on the sideline, Andy starts to talk to a girl also sitting there and he tells her that the coach has all the positions wrong and if he would just move one or two players the team would have a better chance. The girl is the coach's daughter and she tells her dad what Andy said. The coach sees the sense in it so he makes Andy Assistant Coach. Andy starts to play soccer with his brains, not his feet.
The first change he suggests is a name change from the Burwood Stick Insects to the Burwood Sharks and from then on their fortunes start to change. But the big test comes when they have to meet the Blacktown Dragons in the final. Andy needs to come up with some ideas - it is his job to have ideas - but can he come up with a solution for not having enough players in the second half? Will they get beaten after having come so far for the first time ever?
At first I thought this was just going to be another book about soccer, and I thought I had figured out Andy's secret weapon just by looking at the cover. But I was wrong.
It kept me interested to the very end and showed me how important it is to think when I am playing with my team. I hope our coach reads this book.
This book is one of the Hotshots series and is just right for kids who are just starting to read chapter books. I think anyone who enjoys soccer would like it.
Elise, 10, Nicholls, ACT
If I was a keen soccer player I might have enjoyed this book more, but I found it very easy to follow through to its climax and satisfying ending.
Donna Rawlins’ illustrations of the characters were so realistic that I didn’t even have to try to imagine them. There are also plenty of appealing illustrations to help the plot along. Perhaps the soccer team could have had for its emblem, a full-size shark showing his dorsal fin and some angry teeth, so they look like a tough team.
Definitely for the soccer players about 8 or 9 years of age.
John (9 years) Bayside Brisbane
