Keeper

A fun young adult book in Keeper by Mal Peet.  The story is about a young man nicknamed El Gato who visits reporter Paul Faustino immediately following the victory which earned his team the World Cup championship.  Gato is being interviewed to share his personal story, which he has kept private his entire life.  Gato shares his secret on how he learned how to play soccer.  As a youngster, Gato was under-sized, and not very coordinated.  His family had very limited means and Gato needed to quit school to take on a full-time job where his father also worked.  One day he was startled by a vision of a man, who he later named the Keeper.   The Keeper challenged Gato to play soccer, in particular to be a goalie.  Over the next few years, Gato worked to improve his skills, which would be used when he was called upon to serve as the team goalie at the logging camp, where he was now employed at age fifteen.  Within the next two months he received an offer from a rich business man to join one of the professional soccer club’s high school academy.  After some disagreement from his parents, his uncle convinces the family to allow Gato to follow his dreams.  Gato, after losing in the finals of the World Cup four years earlier, finally gets the championship he has worked so hard to attain.  During his meeting with the reporter, Gato explains the story he wants written…. The story of how he became a superstar.  Imagine Faustino’s response as he hears of the Keeper, a spirit of a deceased soccer player.  It is a fun fantasy story that shows how hard work, having a mentor, and loving something so deeply can assist a person in realizing their dreams.  Young athletes will love this one.