Soccer Star

by Mina Javaherbin, Renato Alarcao (Illustrator)

Overview

“Perhaps most importantly, Javaherbin shows that being poor doesn’t stop people from having lives and dreams. A lovely story about soccer, gender, and hope.” — Kirkus Reviews


When Paulo Marcelo Feliciano becomes a soccer star, crowds will cheer his famous name — and his mother won’t have to work long hours. For now, Paulo spends his days working on a fishing boat and taking care of his little sister, Maria: she teaches him reading, and he teaches her soccer moves. At the end of the day he can finally play soccer with his friends. But when a player on Paulo’s team is injured, will they finally change the rules and let a girl show her stuff? Set in a country whose resilient soccer stars are often shaped by poverty, this uplifting tale of transcending the expected scores a big win for all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536220605
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mina Javaherbin is the author of Goal!, illustrated by A. G. Ford. She was born in Iran and immigrated to the United States, where she is a practicing architect. She lives in Southern California.


Renato Alarcão has illustrated many children’s books, including Roberto’s Trip to the Top by John B. Paterson Sr. and John B. Paterson Jr. He lives in Brazil.

I was born in Iran and moved to the United States many years ago. I live in Southern California with my husband, who has played soccer all his life and who nowadays volunteers as a coach at American Youth Soccer Organization. We have two children who also play soccer among many other sports. I believe that even though I studied architectural and write books, I seem to really be my children’s chauffer and “food manager,” a term they use to make me feel important and in charge! I like to add laundry manager, homework manager, and entertainment manager to the list as well.

Here are seven random facts about me; these facts may change, as thankfully we all grow and change. So be sure to visit my website and check my progress.

I am a lefty, but I can write with my right hand too. When I was in third grade my left hand was broken and in a cast, but my teacher expected me to get my homework done, so I learned how to write with my right hand.

I have not baked a thing since last year when I was baking a cake and almost burned down my house! I think the recipe was tampered with. I may have done the tampering.

I think I would like to have dogs and cats and maybe a few elephants, three dolphins, and two whales. For now we have gophers, rattlesnakes, and owls frequenting our backyard as they please.

I would rather read than do anything else in the world. Wait, I like eating and talking too.

I like doing annual bake sales for Halloween with my family and friends to raise money for UNICEF. I hope I’ll start baking again soon and put the you-know-what incident behind me.

My favorite colors are green and blue, and I love that if we look at our earth from space, green and blue are the colors of our planet. We truly have a beautiful planet.

I think global warming, hunger, poverty, and war are things we need to take care of as humans, or we’ll be like dinosaurs.

Editorial Reviews

Javaherbin gives her readers plenty to think about, but intimations of hardship can't dim the children's infectious pleasure in the game.

The New York Times - Sarah Harrison Smith

04/28/2014
Javaherbin follows Goal! with another moving story drawn from the world of soccer, this time focusing on a Brazilian boy named Paolo with big dreams for himself and his neighborhood team. Paolo’s sense of hope is almost tangible in Alarcão’s cinematically lit ink drawings, which show Paolo visiting his friends (like Paolo, they are all working to support their families). During the team’s big match, Paolo finally allows his sister to join the team, a decision that’s both a small-scale victory and a symbol of promise on a larger scale: “It’s up to me, and my vote is for change.” Ages 5–8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

In Alarcão’s illustrations, the bright-white sunshine of Brazil takes on a soft edge, and the high roofs of the favelas offer the perfect perch for kite-flying. It’s a child’s-eye view of poverty, well suited to this story narrated by Paulo Marcela Feliciano, a determined, optimistic boy of about 11 who lives in one of the shanties. ... Javaherbin gives her readers plenty to think about, but intimations of hardship can’t dim the children’s infectious pleasure in the game.
—The New York Times Online

[I]t's downright refreshing to see illustrations that realistically relay the diversity of shades found among Brazilians. Javaherbin deftly handles Paulo and Maria’s poverty with honesty while simultaneously refraining from sugarcoating, overemphasizing or romanticizing it. Perhaps most importantly, Javaherbin shows that being poor doesn’t stop people from having lives and dreams. A lovely story about soccer, gender and hope.
—Kirkus Reviews

Alarcão’s luminous digitally colored sepia-ink illustrations elegantly portray the setting. The joyful expressions of the players as they dribble, knee, and bicycle kick the ball around the sandy soccer field reinforce the story’s positive and inspiring tone. Readers who love the game will cheer on Felino and his team of hopeful soccer stars.
—School Library Journal

Paulo’s enthusiasm for soccer is infectious, but the story also reveals a Brazilian poverty in which boys must work rather than attend school. Alarcão, himself from Brazil, provides scenes of modest homes stacked on a hillside, narrow passageways, and children at work more than at play. Still, the energetic art, rendered in sepia ink with digital coloration, also reflects Paulo’s passion and exuberance, and views of fishing boats in the ocean and the hillside homes at twilight are especially dramatic. With the 2016 Olympics coming to Brazil, this is a timely story, but Paulo’s dream will resonate with soccer fans long before and after that event.
—Booklist

Javaherbin follows Goal! with another moving story drawn from the world of soccer... Paolo’s sense of hope is almost tangible in Alarcão’s cinematically lit ink drawings, which show Paolo visiting his friends (like Paolo, they are all working to support their families). During the team’s big match, Paolo finally allows his sister to join the team, a decision that’s both a small-scale victory and a symbol of promise on a larger scale: “It’s up to me, and my vote is for change.”
—Publishers Weekly

The muted yet colorful and vivid illustrations and minimal text on each page make this book valuable both for reading aloud and for individual reading.
—Library Media Connection

Javaherbin’s opening note states, “My story is an homage to all soccer stars who have risen and continue to rise up from poverty,” and although fictional Paulo’s tale is certainly purposive, it’s not heavy-handed. ... Javaherbin and Alarcao offer young soccer fans a thoughtful and engaging look at a lively team of dreamers.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

This timely picture book, set [in Brazil] in a favela, underscores the fun of the game and its allure, especially for poor kids looking to stardom as a way out. ... A Brazilian illustrator offers spacious, digitally colored ink drawings to highlight play-by-play action and special skills. ... Without being weighed down, this winning tale hits the big themes of poverty, gender, national pride and aspiration.
—San Francisco Chronicle

Soccer Star keeps things real by showing kids living in poverty who need to work, and how overcoming sexism in sports takes determination and, if possible, a supportive older brother. Score!
—Palo Alto Weekly

From the Publisher

04/01/2014
Gr 1–3—Paulo Marcelo Feliciano (aka Felino) dreams of rescuing his mother from long hours at work by achieving glory on the soccer field. As the story opens, the boy and his sister, Maria, set out for the day, bringing with them a bag of their mother's delicious cheese buns. Along the way, they dribble and kick the soccer ball. Maria longs to play in a game with her brother, but the "team's rule is no girls." Leaving Maria at school, Felino heads for the shore, where his boss waits by his fishing boat. Growing up impoverished in Brazil, Felino and his friends all work to help their families. Over the course of the day, Felino encounters Carlos, Jose, Givo, and Pedro, sharing his cheese buns with his teammates. He spends a long day on the water but finally returns to the beach, and the game begins. When Jose, the goalie, injures his wrist, Givo takes his place at the net, and the team calls Maria from the sidelines, refusing to let a "useless old rule" stand in the way of victory. Alarcão's luminous digitally colored sepia-ink illustrations elegantly portray the setting. The joyful expressions of the players as they dribble, knee, and bicycle kick the ball around the sandy soccer field reinforce the story's positive and inspiring tone. Readers who love the game will cheer on Felino and his team of hopeful soccer stars.—Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston, MA

School Library Journal

2014-02-19
A soccer story with a gender-equality twist. The sense of place is established from the title page with an illustration of the young protagonist flying a kite in his Brazilian neighborhood. Paulo loves to play soccer and one day hopes to be a famous soccer star. While he walks his sister, Maria, to school, they practice soccer moves. Paulo then makes his way to the fishing boat where he works, greeting his teammates along the way; they, like him, work during the day and play soccer afterward. There's a lull in pacing in the middle of the story, but it quickly picks up with the "big game." While Paulo respects Maria's soccer skills, his teammates won't let her play—until one of them is injured, and she then scores. Alarcão expertly captures the motion of Maria's triumphant, scoring bicycle kick, but it's too bad there is no illustration that shows the team explicitly welcoming her into the fold. That's a minor quibble, as it's downright refreshing to see illustrations that realistically relay the diversity of shades found among Brazilians. Javaherbin deftly handles Paulo and Maria's poverty with honesty while simultaneously refraining from sugarcoating, overemphasizing or romanticizing it. Perhaps most importantly, Javaherbin shows that being poor doesn't stop people from having lives and dreams. A lovely story about soccer, gender and hope. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews