I love that this is a collaboration between a teen and a world-class author. The themes are good -- soccer, mentorship, dealing with situations where you screw up. The plot was a little bit meandering, but the play by play of games felt like an excellent hook for soccer fans and the realistic need for trust building resonated for me.
( )

Well, what a dream come true for a teen, to collaborate with your favorite author! Perhaps I read too fast through this and should revisit it to be fair, but it seemed disjointed at times and not because of the alternating voices. However, the idea of kids getting into serious trouble as a result of trying to do something, and attempting to cover their tracks, rings true as the kind of thing teens would do. ( )

Good story with soccer action about a boy who gets into trouble with the law when he tries to help a friend. Written by Myers and a teen! ( )

WATCH BOOK TRAILER

Walter Dean Myers co-authors this novel with teenage author Ross Workman to tell two sides of the same story. Ross Workman writes from Kevin’s point of view. Kevin is an accomplished soccer player, now struggling with problems with the law. Myers writes from the point of view of Sergeant Brown, who has taken a special interest in Kevin, since he’s the son of a police officer killed in the line of duty. This is a unique collaboration of authors.

Walter Dean Myers has been writing young adult books for years, this one was a bit of a change for him as he teamed up with Ross Workman, a teenage fan, to cowrite the book. The first few pages of the book include a selection of the emails exchanged between the pair, from the initial idea to write together right through to getting the news that it was going to be published. I found these a very endearing read particularly the advice given by Myers to Workman during the writing process.

The plot is fairly straight forward, the well meaning cop trying to get a former colleague's son back on the straight and narrow. The narration swaps between Kevin and Sgt. Brown with each chapter, I really liked this - it was nice getting to see situations from both of their perspectives. Alongside the main plot of Kevin facing the prospect of juvie and Sgt. Brown trying to help him improve his situation is the soccer plot following Kevin's team's efforts in the State Cup. The plots are fairly simple and for my taste the main plotline is resolved a little too simply.

I found Kevin quite hard to engage with at times, I think however that this is the sign of him being well written. The decisions teenage boys make often puzzle me and Kevin was certainly no different.

Overall I enjoyed this book and am quite inspired by the story of how it came to be. ( )