The Football Girl Hardcover – April 4, 2017

It's a sports story, sure. It's got a feminist theme, sure. But the reader does NOT need to be an athlete or even to think about feminism to find this completely engrossing and enjoyable. You will love at least one character and like many of them. You will recognize middle school and high school stuff whether you're in the midst of them now or long past them. I hope the author considers writing about what happens later to this batch of kids.For me it was a cover-to-cover, nonstop read! Afterward I kept remembering (actually, I keep remembering ) scenes as if I'd been there and seen them play out. When the movie gets made, I may not go, because the images I created from the book are so vivid and satisfying. Aw, who am I kidding? When the movie is made, I'll be in line for tickets on the opening night.

My 13 year old daughter actually plays football, and while she read the whole thing (which is the only reason I'm not giving it one star), she did have plenty of complaints about it. She hated the character's decisions and motivations, or lack thereof. It's really hard to find good books for athletic girls (it's not hard at all to find good reads for young male athletes, as my son had many options geared towards him as a younger reader). Many of the characters are either very girly, or are motivated by a crush or a love interest. This is frustrating to girls and young women who play sports because they love them, develop real friendships and respect with their fellow teammates, and deal with real issues (like being told they shouldn't play a "boys sport", being misunderstood by peers and adults, school, family). She prefers Perfected by Girls, a book about female wrestlers (not WWE), another sport she is passionate about. She also takes her brother's old books about athletes.

Cute book. I bought it for my daughter who plays football and she really enjoyed it

The MC isn't passionate about football, and that's one of the positives of the book. Sometimes you try something new casually and it is a bigger deal to other people.My daughter was the only girl on the wrestling team, and this book is pretty close to her experience.It ends happily but not miraculously. Romance on the tame side.Told it gorgeous past tense, but in alternating voices. The voices are not very distinct, but that's a small complaint.

Go! Go! Get this book RIGHT NOW AND READ IT!!!Tessa is a great athlete-- she runs in a local race with her friends Marina and Lexie and wins first place, putting her on the radar of the high school cross country coach. She is also passionate about football, which she has played in the park for years with her friend Caleb. Since the boys with whom she has played will be spending their time practicing with the high school team, Tessa is crushed when she botches an important play in the last game she may ever play, especially when Caleb and the other players are approached by the high school coach and invited to summer football camp. Tessa would like to participate as well, at least long enough to have some redeeming moment. She knows that it's nothing groundbreaking, but her interest bubbles up in an interview the news is doing with her mother, who is running for mayor. Caleb's not sure how he feels about this. He knows that Tessa is a phenomenal player, and he would like to see her on the team, but he's afraid of how his peers will treat her, and also how they will treat him if his girlfriend is "the football girl". Caleb has a few family conflicts, since his older brother is not joining the family business, and Tessa's parents are consumed with her mother's political career. Tessa's time at football camp ends up being less newsworthy than everyone imagines, but will she be able to prove herself? And what really is she proving?This book had so many perfect lines and situations that I want to quote half the book right here, but it would ruin it. There are tiny moments of surprise and revelation at every turn, and they are written in such a subtle and sweet way. It's an issue book that proves that a lot of times, the issue is really being true to oneself and ones goals. I want to hand this book to every single reader I have who loves sports!Both Tessa and Caleb are portrayed realistically, in both their own feelings and how they treat each other. Granted, they both exhibit ideal behavior in the end, but I'm a big proponent of positive thinking and productive example! The two are friends who slowly like each other more. They make missteps. They do outright stupid things. But ultimately, they make sense of their world and make the best possible choices, and Caleb is able to say exactly the right thing to Tessa.The families and community are great as well. They don't drop everything as this unfolds. It's not the biggest drama in the world to them, but they acknowledge that it is to Caleb and Tessa. I especially loved that the coach didn't really blink. We're not really sure if he thinks Tessa won't make it, if he just doesn't want to bother, or if he truly believes Tessa will be fine on the team. He just lets her play. Isn't that what we want?For teachers and librarians who never read sports books-- if you only read one football book in your entire career, let it be this one. Heldring manages to capture the reality of modern day feminism from both the male and female viewpoint, and presents it in a compact (under 200 pages!), interesting way that is laced with enough football language to appeal to readers.Stealing Tessa and Caleb's moment that is captured by a local news photographer, I truly want to hold hands with this book on the top of a hill at sunset. Run as fast as Tessa can run to get your copy right now.I loved this even more upon reading it a second time.

Tessa is a 14-year-old average girl who enjoys team sports, she has just won a race with her best friends who are hoping to join the high school team. She does everything to get attention from parents who are focused on her mother's political career.Caleb is also a normal 14-year-old boy who likes to follow family traditions. His father played football, his older brother Charles plays and he is following in their footsteps. He has his brother as a great counselor and example and in teaching Tessa to play flag football he never imagined that he would be encouraging her friend to follow in his footsteps and provoke a real revolution. Football is a tough sport only for boys, is not it?Big mistake .....Narrated in the first person alternating Tessa and Caleb, the writer presents the doubts proper to adolescence, the need for recognition and self-affirmation and the discovery of love. With simple, straightforward language with short chapters, he weaves the plot on prejudice and pattern release in a light and pleasant way with a sweet backdrop storyline until it all comes to a very interesting and motivating ending.The first thing that attracted me to the book was the cover that in my view conveys this atmosphere of feminine challenge and struggle , because the challenge of Tessa is to prove that football can be a sport for girls.I don't favorite it because I do not understand anything about football and in some chapters I was a bit lost in the details presented about the game, leaving the reading a little slower.Recommend.4/5 starsKisses, Myl