Ten: A Soccer Story

I bought this book after trying out the Diary Of series by this author. I shared it with my 4th grade students here in the U.S. and they quickly asked me to make it our next read aloud. They LOVED it!Soccer is a fast growing sport in the U.S. and my students easily connected. My diverse classroom also identified with mentions of Islam and what it is like to be an Indian Minority in a country. Having visited Malaysia myself I was able to offer my own insights as well.The story of Divorce that is told also hit home for many of my students and created a positive discussion. My Brazilian students enjoyed that the main character's favorite Football (Soccer) team was Brazil.I appreciated the author's beautiful use of language as well.I suppose my review was a bit rambling, but I really enjoyed this book.

Beautiful story. Well written. Appeals to both boys and girls

Ten is kind of a sweet, coming-of-age sort of tale about a girl and soccer. Her parents haven't been getting on so well of late and Maya is sure they wouldn't get a divorce because it isn't done in her culture. But then, girls don't play soccer since it's a 'boys' sport. Maya not only gets her own soccer ball, but gets pretty good and forms a team at her all girls school. The setting is 1986 Malaysia around the time of the World Cup in Mexico. Maya is able to watch her favorite player, Brazil's Zico, as well as some other famous personages in the sport from that time. She tries to put herself in the place of her favorite player, but also realizes that she has to be her own person.Given the type of book, some of what follows isn't really surprising. What is surprising is that Maya is so resilient and strong willed. She knows she needs to stick up to bullying but doesn't exactly follow through until a cliche moment, so there are some things that could have been handled a little more roundedly. That said, the main character's voice is compelling. Middle Grade readers can relate to Maya's struggles even though she's growing up halfway across the world in some circumstances many Western kids can't relate to. Flint puts a lot of herself and her passions into Maya, too, which gives this book a little bit of truth.Overall, a shortish but good read for the target audience. The soccer may draw them in, but the real life stuff will keep them hooked.

" Ten: A Soccer Story" by Shamini Flint addresses many topics, perhaps too many. Of course it is about soccer but by the time the reader has finished the fifty second chapter they have been exposed to parental divorce, minority grouping, gender rules, teacher techniques for punishment, other ethnic groups, living in a multi-generation household, several other religions and about another country. If one was to just be interested in soccer I think the reader would need to know about soccer and international players to really understand and enjoy the book. The story takes place in Malaysia sometime around the time when the World Cup I was held in Mexico in 1986. Unlike the United States, girls were not playing soccer - it was a boys sport. Maya who is eleven, has watched soccer on the television and has her favorite players and teams. She watches with a serious interest and a wish to become a pro soccer player when she grows up. Reading the descriptions of what is playing on the TV - jinking runs, sliding the ball through the middle of the field, all over the pitch, under the bar and flying over the crossbar meant very little to me and when I read parts of the story to my granddaughter who are 6-9-10 and have been playing soccer on regional teams for 2-3 years now in the U.S. they were unable to tell me what the actions above meant. The books is written for 10 to 12 year olds in 5th to 7th grade with a 770 Lexile measurement so perhaps they are too young, although they have read several books about soccer and both their mom and dad coach soccer as well as play on adult teams so one would think the girls would know some of the actions mentioned above. I found the word level appropriate in this book. I think with explanations of the soccer moves and more emphasis on the forming of the girls' soccer team the book could have stood on its own without having to add the divorce, the cranky grandmother, the cruel punishments administer to minority students, etc.I am sorry to say that none of the granddaughters wanted to read the book themselves, nor did they want grandma to read it out-loud to them.

This is a fantastic tween novel. Set in 1986, Flint's novel is somewhat autobiographical as she relives her own passion for soccer and inability to play the sport because she was a girl growing up in India in a time where females didn't play sportsMaya is persistent in her desire to be a famous soccer player, and doesn't give up easily. The soccer references are fun and soccer is such a mainstream sport here in the United States that girls will appreciate Maya's love for the game.In addition to wanting to play a sport, this book also deals with some bigger issues like Maya's parents failing marriage. In addition, Maya is bi-racial in India (her dad is from England) and feels like a bit of an outsider because of it.I absolutely love Maya and wouldn't mind checking in on her again in a future book.

I just LOVE Maya! This story is all about her. The book does a good job at explaining the cultural nuisances of 1986 Malaysia to set the foundation for why it's so amazing that Maya pursues her desire to play soccer-b/c girls just don't do that! She is a fun character with a lot of spunk, but also amazing persistence and determination. There are points in the story where I found myself laughing with Maya and other points where I found myself cheering her on! The plot moves quickly and although it's pretty predictable, the character development is so well done that the connection with Maya makes that OK. Overall, it's a great, well written story.