Title: Young Pele: Soccer's First Star

Author: Lesa Cline-Ransome

Illustrator: James Ransome

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade

www.randomhouse.com

Publication Date: September 2007

Genre: Multicultural

Audience: Grades 3-5

Overview: This is the story of a young boy from Brazil who grows up to be the name and face of soccer around the world. It is his story of how he struggled through school and spent his time kicking rocks, dribbling with balls made of rags and constantly thinking of soccer. This book follows him up until he was discovered for his amazing talents and begins playing soccer in front of millions of people This story shows how if you set your mind to something that you want to be good at, if you put in the dedication and hard work you can one day be great at it.

Activity: In the classroom, this book could be used at a writing prompt. After a read a loud the teacher could ask the students to write a paragraph or two describing something that they are very passionate about and that they would want to master by the time they were Pele's age or even in their lifetime. Also, if you have a student who is really interested in sports and does not enjoy reading, you could have them read this book. This might help them get excited about a book because they might strive to be a pro athlete themselves. If we choose books that kids would enjoy reading it could make reading in the classroom more fun for them.

Reviewer's Name: Kalli Parrish