The world's top goal scorer and three-time Olympian offers a soccer tale, putatively autobiographical, about a little girl whose tendency to stomp off the field when frustrated prompts her teammates to teach her a lesson. The text perfectly reflects a competitive child's rage when things don't go as desired ("Mia didn't want better luck next time. She wanted better luck now"), as do Thompson's expressive portraits of furious little Mia, all furrowed eyebrows and clenched fists. Hamm's somewhat vague author's note, in which she recalls that "while playing soccer with my family, I learned . . . how to lose gracefully," won't totally satisfy kids' inevitable curiosity about whether or not this incident actually happened. Even so, young soccer enthusiasts will still be relieved to see a larger-than-life heroine reacting to frustration in a familiar way as they learn the lesson about good sportsmanship. A concluding, double-page spread features facts and photos charting Hamm's rise to fame, and a removable glossy photo comes tucked inside the back cover. Jennifer Mattson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved