Beyond Lucky (review)

Ari Fish has locked the coveted position of keeper on his soccer team, but he knows he'll never rise to the talent level of his best friend and teammate, Mac. His personal best gets a considerable boost, however, when he lands a rare rookie card for Wayne Timcoe, the only player from his hometown to ever go pro. Suddenly it seems Ari can do no wrong, while Mac's play takes a turn for the worse, largely due to his resentment of Parker, the only girl on their team. Mac tries to rally his fellow teammates to undermine Parker's performance, but Ari isn't anxious to harass a good player, particularly one for whom he might entertain some romantic interest. When the Timcoe card goes missing and Ari's game begins to falter, there's enough evidence to throw suspicion on either Mac or Parker, and Ari is torn between his old and his new friend. The resolution to the drama calls for some serious suspension of disbelief (Ari tears up his recovered Timcoe card in the interest of team unity; Timcoe himself turns out to be Parker's relative), but the messy tangle of shifting friendships and sports superstition rings pretty true. Subplots involving Ari's bar mitzvah preparation and his concern for his firefighter older brother are neatly woven into the main storyline, with Ari's rabbi and parents offering him subtle, sensible guidance throughout. This will be a versatile choice for struggling middle-school readers, for upper-elementary kids ready to read up, and for soccer fans right smack in the target age zone.