Hat Trick (The Kicks)

Hat Trick (The Kicks)

The Kicks are dedicated to soccer and to friendship—but can they balance all their goals? Find out in book four in the fun and empowering New York Times bestselling middle grade series from star soccer player, Olympic gold medalist, and World Cup champion, Alex Morgan. Now that playoffs are over, the Kicks won’t be playing together again until the spring. But soccer-crazy Devin can’t imagine a life without soccer! She and her friends decide to try out for a travel team in a very competitive local league, but not everyone makes the cut. Meanwhile, Devin’s little sister, Maisie, wants to try out for her elementary school’s soccer program. But due to budget cuts, the program has been eliminated! The Kicks rally together to help raise money—and volunteer to help with four different projects on the same day! Things get hectic as the girls deal with the challenges of being on the competitive, tougher team; figuring out how to keep their friendships together as they all go in different directions; and trying to save the elementary school’s soccer program. If they can pull off all three, it will be a true hat trick! Gr 3-7-In this addition to the series by an Olympic gold medalist, the seventh-grade Kicks teammates attempt to make the cut for a more competitive and challenging winter soccer league, problem-solve to save a soccer program for younger kids that's on the line due to budget cuts, and learn what it takes to collaborate and keep friendships intact. α(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Alex Morgan became the youngest member of the US women’s national soccer team in 2009 and competed in the 2011 FIFA World Cup. She was the first overall pick in the 2011 Women’s Professional Soccer draft and landed a spot on the US Olympic women’s soccer team in 2012. At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, held in London, Morgan won her first Olympic medal, a gold, with the American team. In 2015, she achieved her lifelong goal of winning a World Cup trophy, in the most-watched soccer match in US history. She now plays for the Orlando Pride in Orlando, Florida. Hat Trick Steven and I went sailing across the screen of Zoe’s laptop, swaying to the music. “Oooooooooooh, Devin,” Jessi said, and poked me in the ribs. “Oooooooooooh, Jessi,” I teased back, pointing at the computer screen as Jessi and Cody came dancing into the camera’s view. Jessi and I were huddled together with Zoe and Emma on Zoe’s bed, watching the video from Zoe’s bat mitzvah the week before. “Oh my gosh!” Emma shrieked. “I think it’s gonna happen now!” All of our eyes widened as we watched the screen, waiting for the moment that we hadn’t been able to stop talking about all week. Jessi and Cody glided among the other dancers, steps away from me and Steven. It was a slow song, and just as it ended, the deejay immediately launched into a fast-paced number by Brady McCoy, a new pop star who had a hit song called “Believe in Me.” As the song started, shrieking filled the air, and Emma burst through the dancers. “This is my jam!” she yelled in the video as she jumped excitedly to the middle of the dance floor. But instead of stopping, she lost her balance. “Whoa!” she yelled, her long, shimmering emerald-­green party dress tangling up around her legs. Emma waved her arms wildly in the air for a moment, but nothing could stop her from falling. She toppled over, knocking into Jessi and Cody, who in turn bumped into me and Steven, and we all ended up in a big pile on the floor. Zoe and Frida came running into the frame. “We’ll save you!” Frida cried. But just as they reached us, Jessi and Steven untangled themselves and got to their feet, colliding with the rushing Zoe and Frida. Jessi and Steven went down again, this time with Zoe and Frida toppling too. Lying on the bed, we all shrieked with laughter as we watched ourselves flopping around on the dance floor. In the video, Zoe was laughing so hard she had tears running down her face. We were all hysterical and went into even harder peals of laughter when Zoe’s mom and my mom came up to us on the video, concerned. They tried to help us up, but we were laughing so hard, we couldn’t move. “That was so awesome!” Zoe said as we watched ourselves carrying on. “It’s one of those perfect party moments you can’t plan.” “Perfect party moment?” Emma asked in disbelief. “I thought I had ruined your perfect day!” Zoe shook her head. “No way. Those are the memories I’ll never forget. And I’ll always start laughing when I think about the dance floor pileup!” My own smile turned to a frown. “I wish Frida could be here with us to see it now. She would have loved it. The drama!” “I wonder what’s going on with Frida,” said Jessi. Frida was our actor friend and soccer teammate on the Kentville Kangaroos. We called ourselves the Kicks, and we had just finished a pretty good season of soccer. We all shrugged.