I didn't read this book - couldn't upload it. Wish I could have read it!

I love this publisher. I am so thankful they keep letting me get their books. Their main focus is on reluctant readers and lower level readers. The books usually hit a low middle school reading level. So I read it in an hour. It is nice to have a book like that though. It was able to hold my interest even when it was predictable. There was enough action that it was worth reading even when I was sure I knew how it ended. Though that ending is the reason it is not five stars. 

This book focuses on the same team as Golden Goal. Instead of focusing on Dylan, it focuses on Abbas. He has more a tragic backstory. He came as a refugee to Canada after witnesses a horrifying bombing. The book doesn't go into graphic details, but there is enough detail that it made it clear how scary things were. Abbas shows signs of PTSD, which is the main conflict in the book. The first half is Abbas learning how to deal with his flashbacks and his fear of planes. My main issue with this plot was that the therapist gave Abbas an iPod at the end. That would be a huge ethical issue from what I was taught in my psychology classes, but ignoring that small detail it was a wonderful plot line. It introduced to kids that being hurt by trauma doesn't mean you are broken or weak. It is something I wish more young people knew.

There was a lot more action in this book. There were four games told in pretty explicit details. I am not a sports fan, soccer being one of the more boring sports to me, but I was riveted. I wanted more. I was hoping to hear every last pass that was made. I wanted Abbas to succeed. The author did a great job of making sure that everything made sense and only the really exciting parts were told, which was helpful for me. 

The only reason this book is not five stars is the ending. I was happily reading, but then I flipped the page and the story had ended so abruptly. WHAT HAPPENED? There was no conclusion at all. I was left hanging entirely. I feel a bit cheated by that. Imagine, me, a complete nerd who never wants to leave a library and hates sports, wishing for more sports. That is impressive. 

There is a companion book to this one from the same author, Golden Goal. There are two other books in the series by another author, Tournament Fugee and Team Fugee.

This book was an interesting story of a boy coping with PTSD and how he applies his coping strategies to soccer and helps his teammates also cope with their own fears. This is an upbeat story in spite of the PTSD, and it is treated realistically, although maybe a bit simplistically due to the reading level. It stressed that most people have fears.

I did notice some sentence fragments that needed editing. I don't think the author wrote the sentences that way, but somehow they got rearranged or moved during typesetting.

I’m not a kid, but I am a former bookseller of intermediate and YA books, and I still read a fair amount of those books. I’m a lesbian, and growing up and into my adulthood, I got so tired of all the straight characters in adult books, that I basically stuck to intermediate and YA books. Now there are many more lesbian books available, but I still read intermediate and YA books with interesting plots. I want to thank NetGalley for bringing this series of books to my attention! The series is for reluctant intermediate readers, and I think it does the job well. The books have young (and older) characters that are refugees now living in Canada, and discuss their backgrounds and adjustments to life in Canada.

Having read all 5 books in the series, here’s the order I recommend (although it may not be the order recommended by the publisher): Team Fugee, Tournament Fugee, Golden Goal, Golden Game and Snow Soccer (main character is a girl).

I received a free ebook from the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.