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Soccer Duel
Renny Harding and Bryce McCormack both want to win the championship. When they meet face-to-face they discover that they have a lot in common, but can friendship grow where fierce soccer rivalry exists?
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2000
7 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Matt Christopher
438 books141 followersMatt Christopher is the writer young readers turn to when they're looking for fast-paced, action-packed sports novels. He is the best-selling author of more than one hundred sports books for young readers.
Matt Christopher is America's bestselling sports writer for children, with more than 100 books and sales approaching six million copies. In 1992, Matt Christopher talked about being a children's book author.
"I became interested in writing when I was 14, a freshman in high school. I was selling magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly the adventure and mystery stories, and think how wonderful it would be to be able to write stories and make a living at it. I also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports stories and decided I would try writing them myself.
Determined to sell, I wrote a detective story a week for 40 weeks, finding the time to marry, work, and play baseball and basketball before I sold my first story in 1941, "The Missing Finger Points," for $50 to Detective Story magazine.
After writing and selling children's sports stories to magazines, I decided to write a baseball book for children. I was living in Syracuse, New York at the time, working at General Electric. I spoke about my idea to the branch librarian. She was immediately interested and told me that they needed sports stories badly. So I came up with my first children's book, The Lucky Baseball Bat. I submitted it to Little, Brown, and the book was published in 1954.
I'm sure that playing sandlot baseball and then semiprofessional baseball with a Class C club in the Canadian-American League influenced my writing. I had my own personal experiences, and I saw how other players reacted to plays, to teammates' and fans' remarks and innuendoes, to managers' orders, etc. All these had a great influence on my writing. My love of the game helped a lot, too, of course.
Out of all the books I've written, my favorite is The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. It's a fantasy, but the main character in it could be real. There are a lot of boys who would love to play baseball but, for some reason, cannot. The only difference between a real-life boy and Sylvester Coddmyer III is the appearance of a character named George Baruth, whom only Sylvester can see and who helps Sylvester become a good ballplayer.
I've written many short stories and books for both children and adults, and find that writing for children is really my niche. Being the eldest of nine children (seven boys and two girls), I've lived through a lot of problems many children live through, and I find these problems excellent examples to include in my books.
Sports have made it possible for me to meet many people with all sorts of life stories, on and off the field, and these are grist for this writer's mill. I'm far beyond playing age now, but I manage to go to both kids' and adult games just to keep up with them, and keep them fresh in my mind.Very few things make me happier than receiving fan letters from boys and girls who write that they had never cared for reading until they started to read my books. That is just about the ultimate in writing for children. I would never trade it for another profession."
Matt Christopher died on September 27, 1997. His legacy is now being carried on by his sons, Duane and Dale Christopher.
Matt Christopher is America's bestselling sports writer for children, with more than 100 books and sales approaching six million copies. In 1992, Matt Christopher talked about being a children's book author.
"I became interested in writing when I was 14, a freshman in high school. I was selling magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly the adventure and mystery stories, and think how wonderful it would be to be able to write stories and make a living at it. I also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports stories and decided I would try writing them myself.
Determined to sell, I wrote a detective story a week for 40 weeks, finding the time to marry, work, and play baseball and basketball before I sold my first story in 1941, "The Missing Finger Points," for $50 to Detective Story magazine.
After writing and selling children's sports stories to magazines, I decided to write a baseball book for children. I was living in Syracuse, New York at the time, working at General Electric. I spoke about my idea to the branch librarian. She was immediately interested and told me that they needed sports stories badly. So I came up with my first children's book, The Lucky Baseball Bat. I submitted it to Little, Brown, and the book was published in 1954.
I'm sure that playing sandlot baseball and then semiprofessional baseball with a Class C club in the Canadian-American League influenced my writing. I had my own personal experiences, and I saw how other players reacted to plays, to teammates' and fans' remarks and innuendoes, to managers' orders, etc. All these had a great influence on my writing. My love of the game helped a lot, too, of course.
Out of all the books I've written, my favorite is The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. It's a fantasy, but the main character in it could be real. There are a lot of boys who would love to play baseball but, for some reason, cannot. The only difference between a real-life boy and Sylvester Coddmyer III is the appearance of a character named George Baruth, whom only Sylvester can see and who helps Sylvester become a good ballplayer.
I've written many short stories and books for both children and adults, and find that writing for children is really my niche. Being the eldest of nine children (seven boys and two girls), I've lived through a lot of problems many children live through, and I find these problems excellent examples to include in my books.
Sports have made it possible for me to meet many people with all sorts of life stories, on and off the field, and these are grist for this writer's mill. I'm far beyond playing age now, but I manage to go to both kids' and adult games just to keep up with them, and keep them fresh in my mind.Very few things make me happier than receiving fan letters from boys and girls who write that they had never cared for reading until they started to read my books. That is just about the ultimate in writing for children. I would never trade it for another profession."
Matt Christopher died on September 27, 1997. His legacy is now being carried on by his sons, Duane and Dale Christopher.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 24, 2025
I enjoyed reading Soccer Duel from the Matt Christopher sports series collection. The story follows two middle school boys – Bryce, the soccer league superstar, and the new kid in town. When the new kid, Renny, finally gets his chance to show his stuff on the soccer field, it is against the team Bryce plays for. Renny shocks everyone, most of all Bryce, by scoring the game-winning goal, handing Bryce’s team their first defeat of the season. As the story continues, Bryce begins plotting against Renny so Renny’s team won’t win any more games. However, once Bryce has an opportunity to spend some time with Renny, he learns they have more in common than he realized and he starts to have a change of heart in his approach not only to Renny but also to being a team player in general.
This story follows the classic enemies to friends formula, with a predictable ending. At just under 150 pages, Soccer Duel is short enough to not be intimidating to a struggling or reluctant reader, but also long enough for a student to feel confident in reading a chapter book. I would use Matt Christopher books not only to engage my sports-loving kids, but also to teach about writing following a predictable formula for a reader to follow.
This story follows the classic enemies to friends formula, with a predictable ending. At just under 150 pages, Soccer Duel is short enough to not be intimidating to a struggling or reluctant reader, but also long enough for a student to feel confident in reading a chapter book. I would use Matt Christopher books not only to engage my sports-loving kids, but also to teach about writing following a predictable formula for a reader to follow.
January 30, 2015
Soccer Duel talks about the story of Renny, a middle schooler who just moved to a new town, and plays backup for his center striker. His dream is to be as recognized as a soccer player as he was in his old town, and he tries to be unselfish and nice to everyone he meets. Soccer Duel also talks about the story of Bryce, a selfish ball-hog who is known to be the “best in the league”, and has a real rough attitude, thanks to his father leaving him when he was young. This book is a well thought out book, and its very unique on the level of how the boys’ relationship works. I’d recommend this book to anyone who’s into soccer, and for people who are looking for books to read enjoyably.
November 1, 2011
Renny was late for his soccer game in the morning. His alarm didn’t wake him up. Renny just rushed out of the house so he won’t get more late then he already was. Renny’s parents got divorced a year ago in Haverford so thats why Renny and his mother moved to Crestmont. Renny played center striker in Haverford but when he moved he didn’t play at all he just sat on the bench and played a little bit of defense. When Renny got to the game he was late to the game hadn’t started yet. But something terrible happened during the game Blue Hornets center striker Isaac Mendez broke his ankle. So Renny got to play center striker for the first time on the Blue Hornets. The team that they were competing with was the Yellow Jackets. They had a winning streak. Bryce McCormack was easily the best player on the Yellow Jackets. No one in the Blue Hornets knew that Renny was really good at center striker. Renny played really good and broke the streak for the Yellow Jackets. Everybody was impressed at Renny. After the game Renny and his friend Norm went to Conroy’s. Renny saw Bryce there. Bryce told Renny he was really good, Renny told him the same back. Bryce told Renny that they had two more teams to defeat and they were in the finals with the Yellow Jackets. When Bryce was at Conroy a player from the high school team told Bryce that the high school coach was going to be there so he should try his best. Bryce played the next game and won 7 to 3 Bryce made 6 goals. The high school coach was impressed at him. Next game was Blue Hornets against the Red Scorpions. Th high school coach was also impressed by the way Renny played. The Blue Hornets won the game. The next day of school Bryce sat next a player that the Blue Hornets were going to play with. He told Turk Walters about Renny and asked him to foul him during the game. Turk said I will have him crushed by the end of the game Bryce agreed.
Renny’s father called him and told him that he couldn’t do the trial cleanup. Renny said it was okay with and he could do it by himself. The next day of school the principal called Bryce in. She told Bryce about the fight with Chris Brown. They had to either write an essay or do the trial cleanup. Bryce chose the trial cleanup. Bryce and Renny saw each other at the trial clean up. They also had to be partners because neither of them had a parent with them. Bryce thought if he was going to be partners with Renny then he should of taken the essay. When Bryce and Renny were talking Bryce noticed that Renny isn’t a bad kid at all. Bryce remembered what he had told Turk. So he gave Renny a little advice. Bryce said try to be more aggressive in the game Renny took his advice. Bryce went up to Turk the next day and told him not to hurt Renny. But Turk wouldn’t agree with Bryce. When it was practice for Blue Hornets Renny’s teammates were all thinking negative saying that they were going to lose the game because of Turk. Renny said don’t think negative just because they are bigger than us doesn’t mean were going to lose. We have to take advantage said Renny we are smaller than them and we can run faster then them said Renny lets try to do that and see what will happen. Turk went up to Renny during practice hold him by his shirt and said you better be ready for tomorrows game and pushed. Renny didn’t know whether tell his coach or not. So he just left practice early. The next day it was the game Orange Crush against Blue Hornets. Bryce had came to watch the game. Turk got a really dirty hit on Renny and Renny’s knee started bleeding a couldn't walk well. So he just wiped the blood off and went back in the game. Renny saw Bryce and waved as if he was okay. When renny got in Turk hit Renny again and the back of Renny’s head hit the ground really hard. Bryce left the game and went to Conroy’s after. Wen first half was over Blue Hornets were losing. Renny told his coach that # 8 Turk was fowling him when no one looked The coach said I will tell the refs to look at him carefully. Then they went back to play. This time when Turk fowled Renny he got a penalty. Renny made his penalty. Then when Turk fowled him again Turk was out of the game and Renny scored again. The Blue Hornets had won and went to Conroy’s to celebrate. Renny saw Bryce there and told him that they won Bryce said it was great. But Bryce felt bad about what he had said to Turk and injuries that Renny got.
The next day right before the Championship game Turk had told Renny what Bryce had done and it wasn’t his idea. Renny got really angry and played aggressive. He made a lot of goals and gave the Hornets the win of the first Championship game. When it was the second game Renny felt tired and Bryce played the opposite of Renny so the Yellow Jackets won. Then that afternoon Bryce and Renny ran into each other and became friends again they talked about their fathers Bryce told Renny he hadn’t seen his father in two months so Renny asked were he lived. Then thy told each that they played angry the last two games. Bryce apologized to Renny and Renny said it was okay. Then they said tomorrow lets both play confident and may the best man win. They made a deal on who ever wis the soccer game doesn’t mater we still go to Conroy’s together. Renny went home and called the place were Bryce’s father ha lived he told them names then finally he got the number and left a message to Bryce’s father saying that he had a big soccer game. When ti was time for the soccer game every body gathered and the whistle blew. Both Renny and Bryce played really good. When second half was over they added extra minutes. No body scored during those minutes. So it was time for penalties. The Blue Hornets won the penalties. Bryce saw his father at the game. The teams shook hands and go their medals. It was time for MVP and Renny won it. The high school coach was there and told Renny he wanted him as center striker next year Bryce was a little sad at that moment but then the coach told Bryce that he was going to play for varsity. The boys were both happy. Renny and Bryce walked to Conroy’s with Bryce’s father.
The conflict of this story is that there is a kid Renny who plays center striker in the Blue Hornets for the first time and helps the Blue Hornets win a lot of games. Bryce on the other hand is a really good soccer player for the Yellow Jackets and has to become friends with Renny. One possible theme for the story “Soccer duel” is that if you be dishonest to a friend always tell them and apologize to them. It is better than not being there friends anymore.
I really enjoyed reading this book because you really learn a lot about life and what can happen in the future. It was really interesting reading it. I would recommend this book to other young readers because you really get to find out about how other people think and why its good to think before you do something. The autor was also really good I read many of his books and I enjot all of the them.
Renny’s father called him and told him that he couldn’t do the trial cleanup. Renny said it was okay with and he could do it by himself. The next day of school the principal called Bryce in. She told Bryce about the fight with Chris Brown. They had to either write an essay or do the trial cleanup. Bryce chose the trial cleanup. Bryce and Renny saw each other at the trial clean up. They also had to be partners because neither of them had a parent with them. Bryce thought if he was going to be partners with Renny then he should of taken the essay. When Bryce and Renny were talking Bryce noticed that Renny isn’t a bad kid at all. Bryce remembered what he had told Turk. So he gave Renny a little advice. Bryce said try to be more aggressive in the game Renny took his advice. Bryce went up to Turk the next day and told him not to hurt Renny. But Turk wouldn’t agree with Bryce. When it was practice for Blue Hornets Renny’s teammates were all thinking negative saying that they were going to lose the game because of Turk. Renny said don’t think negative just because they are bigger than us doesn’t mean were going to lose. We have to take advantage said Renny we are smaller than them and we can run faster then them said Renny lets try to do that and see what will happen. Turk went up to Renny during practice hold him by his shirt and said you better be ready for tomorrows game and pushed. Renny didn’t know whether tell his coach or not. So he just left practice early. The next day it was the game Orange Crush against Blue Hornets. Bryce had came to watch the game. Turk got a really dirty hit on Renny and Renny’s knee started bleeding a couldn't walk well. So he just wiped the blood off and went back in the game. Renny saw Bryce and waved as if he was okay. When renny got in Turk hit Renny again and the back of Renny’s head hit the ground really hard. Bryce left the game and went to Conroy’s after. Wen first half was over Blue Hornets were losing. Renny told his coach that # 8 Turk was fowling him when no one looked The coach said I will tell the refs to look at him carefully. Then they went back to play. This time when Turk fowled Renny he got a penalty. Renny made his penalty. Then when Turk fowled him again Turk was out of the game and Renny scored again. The Blue Hornets had won and went to Conroy’s to celebrate. Renny saw Bryce there and told him that they won Bryce said it was great. But Bryce felt bad about what he had said to Turk and injuries that Renny got.
The next day right before the Championship game Turk had told Renny what Bryce had done and it wasn’t his idea. Renny got really angry and played aggressive. He made a lot of goals and gave the Hornets the win of the first Championship game. When it was the second game Renny felt tired and Bryce played the opposite of Renny so the Yellow Jackets won. Then that afternoon Bryce and Renny ran into each other and became friends again they talked about their fathers Bryce told Renny he hadn’t seen his father in two months so Renny asked were he lived. Then thy told each that they played angry the last two games. Bryce apologized to Renny and Renny said it was okay. Then they said tomorrow lets both play confident and may the best man win. They made a deal on who ever wis the soccer game doesn’t mater we still go to Conroy’s together. Renny went home and called the place were Bryce’s father ha lived he told them names then finally he got the number and left a message to Bryce’s father saying that he had a big soccer game. When ti was time for the soccer game every body gathered and the whistle blew. Both Renny and Bryce played really good. When second half was over they added extra minutes. No body scored during those minutes. So it was time for penalties. The Blue Hornets won the penalties. Bryce saw his father at the game. The teams shook hands and go their medals. It was time for MVP and Renny won it. The high school coach was there and told Renny he wanted him as center striker next year Bryce was a little sad at that moment but then the coach told Bryce that he was going to play for varsity. The boys were both happy. Renny and Bryce walked to Conroy’s with Bryce’s father.
The conflict of this story is that there is a kid Renny who plays center striker in the Blue Hornets for the first time and helps the Blue Hornets win a lot of games. Bryce on the other hand is a really good soccer player for the Yellow Jackets and has to become friends with Renny. One possible theme for the story “Soccer duel” is that if you be dishonest to a friend always tell them and apologize to them. It is better than not being there friends anymore.
I really enjoyed reading this book because you really learn a lot about life and what can happen in the future. It was really interesting reading it. I would recommend this book to other young readers because you really get to find out about how other people think and why its good to think before you do something. The autor was also really good I read many of his books and I enjot all of the them.
October 12, 2025
This is a book about soccer. And two boys. Two boys who are both competitive about soccer.
Renny Harding is the child of divorced parents. Unfortunately - even divorced his parents can't stop fighting. And neither parent really seems to have time for him.
Bryce Mc Cormack is also the child of divorced parents. He is in a similar situation to Renny.
Two boys - rivals at the same sport - soccer.
That starts out as rivalry ends in friendship.
Renny Harding is the child of divorced parents. Unfortunately - even divorced his parents can't stop fighting. And neither parent really seems to have time for him.
Bryce Mc Cormack is also the child of divorced parents. He is in a similar situation to Renny.
Two boys - rivals at the same sport - soccer.
That starts out as rivalry ends in friendship.
July 31, 2017
My kids loved Renny and Bryce and the story
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May 13, 2016How would you feel if you were a great soccer player at your old team but when You move you ride the bench all season. The genre of this book is realistic fiction because it has stuffs that can happen on any day without a notice. What I thought of this book was a interesting beginning with Renny which is the the main character and is going to a Saturday morning soccer game with his team the Blue Hornets. He knows he is going to be in the bench but he still keeps a good attitude. That all changes when the starting striker Issac Mendez brakes his ankle and is out for the entire season and the second stringer was on vacation so it was all up to Renny.
The setting of the book is a little town named Crestvord but the name of the soccer field where Renny plays in is called Woodmans field. Renny's top goal is to play 1st string striker but he is a u 3rd stringer who barely gets 10 minutes in defense. It all happened on that Saturday morning game when Issac Mendez got injured bad on his ankle and renny gets to play striker for the first time. Renny does not waste his opportunity and does a cool performance by scoring 4 goals and 2 assists which he was very excitng. The other team was in shock and there star player Bryce McCormack was in shock with this new player and asked one of his teammates to go and find out his name. After that they have a lot of disapointments they almost become good friends but Bryce sends a tall rough dude named Tucker Walters to hurt Renny in the playoff games and they get really mad at each other but become Friends again when they realize they have so much in common..The type of conflict is person vs person because Bryce now see that Renny as a threat to him and his team. the theme of the story is that just because you are rivals does not mean that you can't be good friends. In the text it states that"from now on we are the bestes friends."
The first person point of view affects the story because it is told by Renny which means that the story is seen by how Renny sees it.which allows us to see Rennys thoughts and hear the opinions that Renny says.The author says words like "I" and "me" to symbolize first person point of view.The title relates to the story because it is named "soccer duel" because the story is mostly about soccer and it is sort of a compition between Bryce and Renny. Below the title there is a quote that says "there are two sides to every story" that relates to the Bryce and Renny because outside the soccer field they are good friends but on the field they are not enemies but not a friend either.
My opinion on this book was a regular beginning with Renny riding the bench like usual.Then a pretty crazy middle when Issac Mendez is out for the season and Renny takes his spot and takes the Blue hornets to the playoffs. I thought the ending was just amazing with both teams fighting for every ball on the 3 games it was prettyy crazy and was very suspensiol.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5 because everything of the book just fits in from the characters to the setting. I would recommend this book to someone who likes soccer and drama and fightin. I overall dont like this book because i dont like soccer but i still recommend it to anyone who is interested in soccer. (less)
The setting of the book is a little town named Crestvord but the name of the soccer field where Renny plays in is called Woodmans field. Renny's top goal is to play 1st string striker but he is a u 3rd stringer who barely gets 10 minutes in defense. It all happened on that Saturday morning game when Issac Mendez got injured bad on his ankle and renny gets to play striker for the first time. Renny does not waste his opportunity and does a cool performance by scoring 4 goals and 2 assists which he was very excitng. The other team was in shock and there star player Bryce McCormack was in shock with this new player and asked one of his teammates to go and find out his name. After that they have a lot of disapointments they almost become good friends but Bryce sends a tall rough dude named Tucker Walters to hurt Renny in the playoff games and they get really mad at each other but become Friends again when they realize they have so much in common..The type of conflict is person vs person because Bryce now see that Renny as a threat to him and his team. the theme of the story is that just because you are rivals does not mean that you can't be good friends. In the text it states that"from now on we are the bestes friends."
The first person point of view affects the story because it is told by Renny which means that the story is seen by how Renny sees it.which allows us to see Rennys thoughts and hear the opinions that Renny says.The author says words like "I" and "me" to symbolize first person point of view.The title relates to the story because it is named "soccer duel" because the story is mostly about soccer and it is sort of a compition between Bryce and Renny. Below the title there is a quote that says "there are two sides to every story" that relates to the Bryce and Renny because outside the soccer field they are good friends but on the field they are not enemies but not a friend either.
My opinion on this book was a regular beginning with Renny riding the bench like usual.Then a pretty crazy middle when Issac Mendez is out for the season and Renny takes his spot and takes the Blue hornets to the playoffs. I thought the ending was just amazing with both teams fighting for every ball on the 3 games it was prettyy crazy and was very suspensiol.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5 because everything of the book just fits in from the characters to the setting. I would recommend this book to someone who likes soccer and drama and fightin. I overall dont like this book because i dont like soccer but i still recommend it to anyone who is interested in soccer. (less)
May 22, 2011
Renny Harding had just moved to a new town. He didn't really know anyone. Renny loved soccer, so he went to watch one of the Jr High games. One of the players on the Blue Hornets twisted his ankle. Renny subbed for him and won the Hornets the game. Renny met Bryce who was the star player on another team called the Yellow Jackets. Bryce didn't know if he liked Renny. Renny and his dad were signed up to help clean up the forest. Renny's dad couldn't make it, so he and Bryce were partners. They talked while cleaning and became friends. Renny took the place of the hurt player on the Hornets for the rest of the season. Renny got them to the play offs, then the championship. They were against Bryce's team. The final game was really intense. They had a shoot out to see who would win. Renny had to make this shot to win. Renny made the shot, the Hornets won. Bryce wasn't really mad. Renny and Bryce were going to get positions on the varsity team.
I liked the book "Soccer Duel". The book was interesting and had action. It wasn't like the books that I have read before. The book is about a boy playing soccer. Most of the other books that I've read aren't very realistic. This book had action, but it was action that would normally happen in real life. I also like this book because I like soccer and I could relate to the characters in this book. This book was one of the first books that was realistic that I actually liked. If you like soccer then you should read "Soccer Duel."
I liked the book "Soccer Duel". The book was interesting and had action. It wasn't like the books that I have read before. The book is about a boy playing soccer. Most of the other books that I've read aren't very realistic. This book had action, but it was action that would normally happen in real life. I also like this book because I like soccer and I could relate to the characters in this book. This book was one of the first books that was realistic that I actually liked. If you like soccer then you should read "Soccer Duel."
May 20, 2014
The reason why I choose the book "Soccer Duel" by Matt Christopher is because I am a huge soccer fan and I also play soccer so I wanted to read about my favorite sport. The main plot of the story is these two kids Renny and Bryce are on opposite teams while both of teams are competing for the same championship. Renny doesn't play much but when he gets the opportunity he stuns everybody because unlike Bryce he has teamwork in him. After all, Renny's team wins the championship."Bryce sank to the ground in disbelief.The season was over, and his team had lost". The reason why this is my favorite quote because Bryce was a one man show the whole time and it didn't get him anywhere but when Renny played with teamwork his team won the championship. I think that the author was trying to say "You play as a team you win as a team" Renny came into the game as a substitute instead of trying to get himself a spot on the starting lineup he passed the ball and they won the championship. I would recommend this book to anybody who plays sports because it gives a lesson to them.
March 3, 2015
I think this book was pretty good. The fact that I really like soccer is important because it makes the book so much better. I liked the plot a lot. A new guy from a different town. Renny is really good. And he joins the new soccer team and is a threat to the best player in the town, Bryce. They don't like each other because Bryce likes to play dirty and Renny didn't know what to do but was expected to do the same. And in the end, they become good friends and made up. I like movies like this book. This book had some details that were pretty great, but I felt he could of done so much better because this book was almost outstanding to me. I like this book a lot and I would read it a lot of times if I could. The best part was when he had two different perspectives. Renny and Bryce. Awesome idea. He made the readers know what they think of eachother. That is mainly why I picked this book as 5 stars. That is my book review for this book. :)
October 9, 2014
The book Soccer Duel by Matt Christopher is a great small book with lots of fun soccer games and a very interesting but sporty book. The main character is named Renny and he had just moved in to town. He loved soccer and was great at it, but his soccer coach didn't know that he was good because he just moved into town. Renny got a lucky but unlucky chance to play. their other player that played his position go hurt so Renny subbed in. After a while Rennys team went from the worst to the best. After that Renny found a new friend that was better than him at soccer. Renny was happy because they were becoming friends but they had to play each other in the finals for the championship. This book is a small easy book but it is good if you are in to sports and need something to read.
October 16, 2014
This is n interesting book on how rivals can become friends......also.it shows the importance of playing your best, forgiveness, and how fathers can love their sons even if they can't be together. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in soccer or who needs a good book to read. Honestly I didn't want to read this book, I just got tired of re-reading my favorites.......so enjoy!! I did! :)
January 3, 2011
This was Braden's pick for all of us to read together during Christmas break. The boys loved the description and anticipation of each soccer game, ending with the championship. There is even an unlikely friendship that develops. The rating is the perspective of my boys. Thank goodness for Matt Christopher; writing books that even Braden can find amazing!
October 19, 2009
this book was awesome it really relates to alot of people if you like soccer you will love this book.
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March 24, 2010i learn how the kids play soccer and there were alot of arguing in this story
August 6, 2014
Good boys book. Brock likes this author.
February 22, 2016
I like this book because it is about soccer. Bryce wants to play but he couldn't because he was hurt and his team had a contest of soccer to play with others to see who wins.
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May 16, 2025One of my fav books from one of my fav authors 🫶
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews