Liz TigelaarRezensionen

Fun sports book

I like that we got to see both sister's points of view. It kept me from being totally one just Charlie's side, although I really felt for her. I liked that we actually got to see a lot of playing and not just hear about it afterwards. Charlie was tough on the outside, but really needed a friend. And Krista needed to put her needs and wants above what would be the popular thing to do. I enjoyed that this wasnt a romance, it was about a sisterly bond and knowing what's important. Cute read

This book covered a lot of issues (in an entertaining way)--friendships, sibling rivalry, dating, sports. The relationships and characters were realistic. So nice to see a (relatively normal) sibling relationship be the main focus of a young adult novel, and the issues get worked out through sports.

Liz Tigelaar gives you an exciting and somewhat romantic perspective on chasing your dreams. Liz has written both television dramas and young adult novels. This book Playing With The Boys is the second of her sport series Pretty Tough.
New girl Lucy Malone got cut from the soccer team. The coach suggested for her to try out to be the kicker on the varsity football team knowing how accurate her kick is. She ends up making the team but faces many challenges being a girl on the boys team. Liz reminds me of Sarah Dessen except Sarah doesn’t put the twist of sports in here books.
The book Playing With The Boys in my opinion is the best of the series yet. I think the targeted audience is 12-15 year old girls because it tells them you can do anything you want even if people say you can’t. This book was defiantly a 4 or 4.5 out of 5.

Sisters Charlie and Krista Brown do not get along. Krista is the perfect child, popular and a star soccer player with a movie star best friend and a quarterback boyfriend. Charlie (yes, her name is Charlie Brown) is a rebel, a surfer who hates her sister and everything she stands for. When the new soccer coach recruits Charlie to try out, Krista is furious, and Charlie's only trying out to torture her sister. Can these sisters put their differences aside long enough to do what's best for the team?

Pretty Tough is a great book about sisters, sports, and girl power. The point of view alternates between Krista and Charlie, both of whom have good reason to distrust each other. Krista isn't nearly as confident as she appears, and Charlie is a talented underachiever deeply hurt by her falling out with her sister. The soccer team gives them a chance to heal the breach, and the confidence to change their lives off the field. It's refreshing to read about contemporary girls who are interested in something other than boys, especially since sports is such an important part of so many students' lives. I really enjoyed this book, and recommended it for any teens who want read about strong girls.

Reviewed by The Compulsive Reader for TeensReadToo.com

Charlie Brown is not a team player. This is what she tells the new soccer coach when she is recruited to play soccer on her school's losing soccer team. And with a name like hers, you can't help but sympathize.

Charlie would rather surf all day than play on the same team as her perfect sister, Krista. The stereotypical It girl, Krista is blond, athletic, popular, and beautiful. Everything Charlie is not, and for that reason alone, the two hate each other.

And suddenly going out for the soccer team seems like the perfect way to spite Krista. But what neither Charlie nor Krista expected was that Charlie would actually make the team. Or that should she would stay...

PRETTY TOUGH is a novel that redefines all of those stereotypes that run deep in young adult literature. This is a novel with an empowering message: girls can be athletic, brainy, tough, and fashionable. All the while, Tigelaar gives a strong and unflinching look at how seemingly unimportant decisions can make a lasting effect, especially on those you love.

The true depths of the bonds of sisterhood are realized in this heartwarming and heart-pumping novel full of love, acceptance, drama, strength, and forgiveness.

this book is really good. i really liked it a lot. i thought that the other book called "pretty tough" was also really good so i decided to read this one hoping the same reaction.

Lucy Malone has just moved to Malibu, California, and even though she’s got a totally awesome room in an amazing new house, things aren’t going well. All her friends are back home in Toledo, Ohio, and it doesn’t seem like she’s going to be making any new friends soon. But opportunity soon presents itself in the form of soccer tryouts. Lucy was on the varsity soccer team at her old school, so being on the team in Malibu would be a chance to show off something she’s good at. But she’s not good enough; she doesn’t make the final cut for the team and is heartbroken.

Lucy doesn’t feel that she has anything going for her now until the soccer coach Martie suggests Lucy use her strong and accurate kick to try out for the boys’ varsity football team. At first, Lucy is skeptical; after all, she is a girl who wants to fit in. But then she gives it a try and makes it. She soon finds out that football may be her calling. Unfortunately, her father forbids her from playing football, but that doesn’t stop Lucy.

Lucy constantly feels like she has to prove herself. Along with joining the football team comes hazing and potential friends. Throughout the novel, Lucy’s tentative friendships with members of the soccer team, the football team, several popular cheerleaders, her father, and a very sweet boy named Benji are tried. Lucy finds out which friendships are worth it, and comes to terms with her father.

Playing with the Boys was a thoroughly enjoyable novel, even though I didn’t understand most of the football terms. I am definitely not a sports person, so I found it relieving that I was learning all about football along with Lucy. The novel was very straightforward and slightly predictable, but it didn’t make the story any less sweet. I recommend this book to people who like sports novels, such as Pretty Tough also by Liz Tigelaar, Screwball by Keri Mikulski, and Dairy Queen and The Off Season by Catherine Murdock. I actually haven’t read any of these novels yet, but am planning on it because Playing with the Boys was such a fun novel to read.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com

A soccer story about 2 sisters who hate each other. Charlie is in gr. 10, and is fearless, and rough. Krista is a beautiful blond senior who is the envy of almost every girl in school. Charlie goes out for soccer just to annoy Krista, but then discovers playing means a lot more to her than she thought. The book had me in tears at the end. Author also wrote Dawson's Creek.

Will these sisters ever get along? One can only hope, because they'll never win the state soccer championships otherwise.

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Lucy's father forced her to move to Malibu right after her freshman year of high school. She's heartbroken to leave her best friend and the house where everything reminds of her mother.

The first week has been rough, but then she starts soccer tryouts. Lucy loves soccer and being a part of the team. She's devastated when her name is not on the list. However, the coach pulls her aside and tells her that the football team needs a quick replacement kicker and she should try out. At first, Lucy thinks the idea is crazy, but the more she thinks about it the more she likes it.

She makes the team, but doesn't have the instant camaraderie that she's been craving. Instead, the team members give her a hard time. Her father has forbidden her to join the team, so she lies. He thinks she's joined the cheerleading squad. He will discover the truth soon and then Lucy will have to figure out how hard she'll fight to remain on a team that doesn't want her.

Lucy Malone's determination and strength leads her to go where no other girl in school has gone before - the all-boys football team. Once on the team, she doesn't shy away from all the pressure, the grief, and her father's objections.

Kirkus Reviews, 00426598, , Vol. 72, Issue 15