{"product_id":"keeper-isbn-9780763687465","title":"Keeper","description":"\u003cb\u003eMal Peet transports readers to a fictional South American country and a world of soccer, celebrity, and strange occurrences investigated by sports reporter Paul Faustino.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Paul Faustino of \u003ci\u003eLa Nación \u003c\/i\u003eflips on his tape recorder for an exclusive interview with El Gato — the phenomenal goalkeeper who single-handedly won his team the World Cup — the seasoned reporter quickly learns that this will be no ordinary story. Instead, the legendary El Gato narrates a spellbinding tale that begins in the South American rain forest, where a ghostly but very real mentor, the Keeper, emerges to teach a poor, gawky boy the most thrilling secrets of the game. A seamless blend of magic realism and exhilarating soccer action, this evocative novel will haunt readers long after the story ends.This stirring adventure—a soccer story, a ghost story—defies expectations. . . . Both lyrical and gripping.\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnly at the conclusion of the interview and the resolution of who the Keeper really is and what he is waiting for will readers even think of putting down this fascinating book.\u003cbr\u003e—School Library Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFramed as an interview between a South American sports reporter and the world's best soccer goalkeeper, the now 30-year-old 'El Gato' relates how he developed his skills, achieved great fame, and won the coveted World Cup. \u003cbr\u003e—Booklist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor [soccer] fans, this book would be an excellent transition from the easier chapter books by authors such as Matt Christopher. \u003cbr\u003e—Voice of Youth AdvocatesMAL PEET grew up in Norfolk, England, where he says the only worthwhile pastimes were reading books and playing soccer. These are still his main interests. Of KEEPER, his first novel for young adults, he says, \"Many soccer stories seem to get stuck in the mud like a heavy ball on a wet Saturday afternoon, but there's no reason why they can't shift into a different and magical dimension. KEEPER is about soccer, of course, but it's also about the supernatural, about relationships and loneliness, about believing in yourself—and about having something you would do your utmost to protect and defend.\" Mal Peet now lives in Devon, England.You probably don't think this is remarkable. But if you knew the jungle, you would find it hard to believe me, because an open space in the jungle is not possible. Something, anything, will occupy any space where it can find light to live and grow. Yet here was this clearing, and it was covered in grass. Yes, grass. Short grass. Turf. Impossible. Absolutely impossible. I walked out onto this grass very slowly, far more alarmed by this clearing than by any plant or creature I had met in the jungle itself. . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was in a space that was about one hundred yards long and maybe half as wide, and I had walked out of the forest at a point about halfway down its length. I looked at first to my left and saw how the clearing ended in a dense, shadowy wall of trees. Then I looked to my right. And froze. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStanding there, with its back to the trees, was a goal. A soccer goal. Two uprights and a crossbar. With a net. A net fixed up like the old-fashioned ones, pulled back and tied to two poles behind the goal. My brain stood still in my head. I could hear the thumping of my blood. I must have looked like an idiot, my eyes mad and staring, my mouth hanging open. Eventually I found the nerve to take a few steps toward this goal, this quite impossible goal. The woodwork was a silvery gray, and the grain of the wood was open and rough. Weathered, like the timber of old boats left for years on the beach. It shone slightly. The net had the same color, like cobwebs, and thin green plant tendrils grew up the two poles that supported it. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt seemed to take an age, my whole life, to walk into that goalmouth. When I got there, I put out my hands and held the net. It was sound and strong, despite its great age. I was completely baffled and stood there, my fingers in the mesh of the net and my back to the clearing, trying, and failing, to make sense of all this. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd then my fingers began to tremble, and then my legs, because I was suddenly certain that I was not alone. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e______________\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKEEPER by Mal Peet. Copyright (c) 2005 by Mal Peet. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.","brand":"Candlewick","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304076497125,"sku":"NP9780763687465","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780763687465.jpg?v=1767730661","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/keeper-isbn-9780763687465","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}