Book talk: Goal! by Mina Javaherbin (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013)

[For this booktalk, don't show the cover yet! Start with the following brief discussion first.]

What do you own that is nearest and dearest to your heart? Don't think of a person. Think of an object: it could be a toy, a book, a trophy, a photo, a stuffed animal, or a piece of jewelry. If your house was burning, this is the object you'd grab before you ran out. Okay, do have your item in mind? What did you pick? [Take a few brief responses.]

[Show cover.] This is Ajani. His soccer ball is his most treasured item. It means so much to him, and it's not easily replaced. But it's just a soccer ball, right? Well, yes and no.

Ajani lives in a township in South Africa where no one has much money: if you have a decent soccer ball, you guard it from the bullies who will certainly steal it. These bullies are bigger than Ajani and his friends and they ride around on bikes. Ajani's soccer ball provides endless hours of fun and friendship for him, so it's more than just a ball. In many parts of the world, children who want to play soccer have to make their own makeshift balls out of whatever they can, and that makes the game so much harder to play.

Ajani and his friends are pretty clever: they always have a guard, and they know what to expect. Soccer is their favorite game ever, and in that respect, they're just like you.

Goal! by Mina Javaherbin, illustrated by A.G. Ford. 2010: Candlewick. Unpaged. Booktalk to grades K-3. Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013. 

Goal!