Soccer Cats: Hat Trick

This book was written by Matt Christopher and illustrated by Daniel Vasconcellos. The genre of this story was realistic fiction and children's chapter book. The theme throughout the book was teamwork. The primary character of the book was Stookie and the secondary characters were Lou, his friend, and Greg, his brother. The book has not received any awards. It was published by Little, Brown, and Company.

The book begins with Greg telling Stookie about how he made the paper because he was able to do a hat trick at his soccer game. Greg continues bragging about the hat trick to Stookie. Then stookie goes to tell his teammates that he will get a hat trick, which is three goals, in their next game. At the game, Stookie is so worried about getting three goals that he keeps the ball all to himself and will not pass to the other players. His coach finally sets him out of the game for the second half. Stookie winds up losing his friends. At their next practice, his friend Lou does not want to be his partner. The coach keeps the two boys after practice to talk about the importance of teamwork. Stookie realizes he needs to listen to his friend and coach. At their next game Stookie is much better about being part of a team. They win the game because Stookie assists so many of his fellow teammates!
I would use this book as part of my classroom library. I think the athletes, especially boys, would like to read this book. They could easily relate to the story and could learn the important lesson of teamwork.