Haunted Cleats

Flynn kicks off the Screammates series with this short, quick-moving caper that is likely to score points with kids who are more enthusiastic about playing soccer than about reading. Although the characters are credible, believability is not integral to the book's plot: Shane witnesses a bolt of lightning that ignites a trash can, and finds inside of it a pair of glowing soccer cleats. Having just lost a game for his team by flubbing a goal during a shoot-out, the fifth grader is thrilled when the cleats give him awesome kicking, jumping and running power. But the shoes have a knack for being naughty, too, and get Shane into hot water (e.g., they force him to shoot a soccer ball directly at his sister's head and kick a teammate in the ankle). Worse yet, the baffled boy has trouble removing the ""haunted"" cleats from his feet. Flynn provides a few suspenseful encounters and keeps the ball rolling with dialogue that could, despite the story's silly premise, be overheard on any youth soccer field. Though a puff of a tale, it's one that just may blow a soccer player in the direction of a book. Ages 8-12. (Nov.)