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The Million Dollar Kick by Dan Gutman Review

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Dan Gutman writes books that kids want to read. The Million Dollar Kick is no exception, continuing with the million dollar series. In this series Gutman writes about kids having the chance to win a million dollars in a variety of sports.

This series is very well liked (I mean; what kid doesn’t dream about winning a million bucks?), and also very well written. The characters are all different, and each has their own storyline and development.

Summary

The main character in The Million Dollar Kick is a thirteen year-old girl named Whisper Nelson. She is very identifiable as a normal eighth grade girl who doesn’t like sports; in fact she hates them.

Part of the reason for this is because her younger sister, Briana, is a pro at sports. Plus, she is a pro at school. On report card day she gets straight A’s, so their mom has Whisper take her out to get some doughnuts. Whisper is jealous of her sister because she is viewed as the perfect one by their mom.

While getting doughnuts Briana happens to enter them into a contest that gives the winner a chance to win a million by kicking against Carmen Applegate, one of the best professional soccer goalies around. Surprisingly, Whisper wins!

Even though Whisper hates sports, she knows a million dollars would really be nice. She tries to learn how to kick, and Ellie Gonzales (the high school keeper) agrees to help her out.

Whisper soon becomes proficient in her soccer skills, improving her emotional life and her relationship with her mom. On the big day however, Carmen gets hurt and a familiar friend steps in to be the goalie. Will Whisper score? Or will she miss and feel bad forever?

Review

This is a very good book, as we have come to expect from Dan Gutman. Whisper is easy to relate to and I still feel like I know her. Throughout the book Gutman uses breaks in the action to his advantage in order to build Whisper’s character.

Whisper’s journey to become a better soccer player is also inspiring. It’s not easy for her to do, but it helps her with much more than just her soccer playing.

It’s also good that Gutman has the main character of this book be a girl, because all of the other books in the million dollar series are boys. This is a great book for girls from around 2nd to 5th or 6th grade, although many boys may still enjoy it. I sure did.

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Two Hot Dogs with Everything by Paul Haven Review

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I used to love baseball. In fact, there was one year where I watched every single game the Yankees played. That, and the strength of Dan Gutman’s baseball series, made me excited to read Two Hot Dogs with Everything by Paul Haven, a book about a boy who tries to use luck to make his baseball team, the Sluggers, win the World Series.

This is kind of a weird story, based on hidden magic rituals. I have mixed feelings about the book, because the theme of the book is taking the idea of superstitions and baseball to a whole new level.

Summary

Danny Gurkin is an 11 year old who absolutely loves his favorite baseball team: The Sluggers. The only problem is that they are an awful team. Year after year they endure horrible defeats.

Although Danny puts in valiant efforts to help his team by having two hot dogs with the right amount of toppings before every game, it seems to have little effect. He also has other rituals, from what he wears to where he watches the game.

Danny and his friends, however, come across bubblegum from Manchester E. Boddlebrooks, the founder of the Sluggers. Manchester’s house is about to be demolished, and they hope to find something valuable in it. The bubblegum, however, turns out to be much more valuable than they could have thought.

By chewing the gum Danny is able to change the outcome of the Sluggers games and make them play better. In fact, they are able to get all the way to the world series! But will it be enough to last the Sluggers through the season? What mysterious characters are still alive? And will the owner of the Tornados stop Danny before he can will the Sluggers to win their first victory in 108 years?

Review

As I said earlier, this book is really just taking baseball superstitions to a whole new level, with the magical bubblegum and mysterious characters. The whole thing is quite eery.

The book is well-written, and we are able to identify with Danny as we feel the loses of our own sports teams. For me, though, this book was just a little too weird. I could’ve been okay if it was just the bubblegum, but the whole history of it and everything was a little too much for me. Most kids would love it, however.

This book probably won’t be very well-liked by kids who aren’t into baseball. If they are, however, it may very well capture their attention. On Amazon, there is not a single negative review for Two Hot Dogs with Everything. That’s saying something.

Thank you for reading this review and if you’d like to purchase the book you can do so through this link. You can also like my Facebook Page or enter your email below to get more book reviews.

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