The Comeback Season (review)

Not many children will recognize the name Edson do Nascimento, but it's likely that they already know him by his soccer nom de guerre, Pelé. Here Cline-Ransome describes his younger years as an indifferent student in his Brazilian village, his constant fascination with the game, the ambitions of Edson and his friends to garner the respect accorded to well-equipped and uniformed teams, and their eventual rise to the youth soccer tournament at the Bauru Athletic Club—with team uniforms and actual shoes, no less. As listeners follow the legend, they not only hear how Edson came by the somewhat mysterious moniker whose origin has never been finally determined, but they also witness the fact that the talented boy's success hinged in part on the efforts and enthusiasm of his teammates and the dedication of the father of three of his teammates. James Ransome's burly oil paintings deliver plenty of the field action the audience will demand, but his rendering of Pelé's facial features and size is inconsistent, making it occasionally difficult to spot the subject or pinpoint his age from spread to spread. The narration, however, is smooth, the endnote summarizing his later career is informative, and hero worship is nearly guaranteed.