The Beautiful Game

The Beautiful Game - Paperback

$8.99
$8.99
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The Beautiful Game
  • The Beautiful Game
The Beautiful Game - Paperback

The Beautiful Game - Paperback

by Yamile Saied Méndez
$8.99
$8.99

Book Overview

A powerful story about family, fútbol, and playing like a girl, perfect for fans of Front Desk, The Academy, and, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret from the award-winning author of Furia.

At twelve years old, Valeria "Magic" Salomón is already the best soccer player her town has ever seen. She has talent in spades and an abuelo whose tough-love coaching and lessons about "strength and honor" have made her the star of the Overlords, the top boys' team in the state.

Then everything changes at the State Cup semifinal. After an embarrassing moment on the field, Valeria's team is unexpectedly eliminated and everyone who used to treat her as their secret weapon now sees her as their weakest link. Soon, she doesn't have a team at all anymore. She's not sure she has a relationship with her grandfather either.

Valeria's a fighter, however. With the help of her grandmother and support of her cheerleader BFF, she finds herself on a girls' team for the first time. But the Amazons aren't exactly excited to have her there. After all, Valeria's spent years ignoring their existence. With the next tournament looming on the horizon, Valeria has a month to figure out her place on her new team and learn how to play like a girl.

The award-winning author of Furia returns to the world of "the beautiful game" in this uplifting, heartfelt novel about family, self-confidence, and the power of second chances.
ISBN9781523532414
Author Yamile Saied Méndez
PublisherLittle, Brown Books for Young Readers
GenreChildren and Sports
FormatPaperback
PublishedMarch 2026
LanguageENG- English
Pages336
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceKids and Teens & young adults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Juvenile Fiction Kids

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More by Yamile Saied Méndez

The Beautiful Game

The Beautiful Game - Paperback

The Beautiful Game - Paperback

By Yamile Saied Méndez

About Yamile Saied Méndez

Yamile (pronounced sha-MEE-lay) Saied Méndez is an Argentinian-American Pura Belpré gold medal-winning author of picture books, middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction. An inaugural Walter Dean Myers Grant recipient, she's a graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts and Voices of Our Nations (VONA). Her young adult novel, Furia, was a Reese Witherspoon X Hello Sunshine YA Pick and she's a founding member of Las Musas, a collective of women and nonbinary Latinx creators. Born and raised in Rosario, Argentina--to a family with roots from all over the world--she now lives in Utah with her Puerto Rican husband, five multicultural kids, two bilingual dogs, and one majestic cat. Visit her online at YamileSMendez.com.

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