Middle-Grade Review: Offside By Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Palmer is an avid soccer player who has torn his ACL and is out for the season. Luckily, Coach Harris and Coach T of the Jayhawks understand how important the sport is to him, and let him tag along as a “manager”. His teammate Al hates having girls on the team (blaming it on his Peruvian father and grandfather’s adherence to the antiquated idea that girls shouldn’t even play soccer), so tries to sabotage Nicky, who has quit the girls’ team and joined the Jayhawks hoping it will better further her career. Palmer’s neighbor Fabiola is new to the US and learning English, but is interested in being on the team as well. So is Seba, a boy in Fabiola’s English language learners class who is also new to the US. When both Nicky and Fabiola both make the team, Al is worried that his grandfather won’t be proud of him playing soccer when he visits. Al’s father goes so far as to lie to Vovo about Al’s game, claiming it was cancelled. Palmer is asked to write an article for the school paper about having girls on the team, to help everyone accept them. After talking to Nicky about her experience with the poor fields for the girls, the article takes a different direction that manages to make both Nicky and Al angry, but which gets picked up by the local paper. Al finds that there is a field nearby that is for sale, and has a plan to get it turned into soccer fields. He offers Nicky the chance to play the hero is she and Fabiola don’t play in a game so that his grandfather can watch the game. This turns into an odd sort of publicity event that involves Seba bringing his neighbor who has a petting zoo, but pressure is put on the mayor to do the right things for sports in the town. Al’s grandfather is more accepting of girls playing soccer than Al and his father expect, and the team starts to work together. There is a glossary of soccer terms at the back of the book, and a lot of dual language (Spanish/English mostly, but some Portugese) speech bubbles throughout the book.