Playing With the Boy by Liz Tigelaar

Pages: 304
Publisher: Razorbill
Perspective: Third Person
Age Group: Young Adult
Challenges: N/A
Release Date: April 10, 2008

New girl Lucy is desperate for friends. She tries out for Beachwood High soccer, but despite her amazingly accurate kick, fails to make the team. When the Coach points out that varsity football is looking for a new kicker, Lucy is skeptical. Football? Isn’t that a boys’ game?

But on the gridiron Lucy discovers that she feels strong—in control for the first time since her mother died. She loves football. She actually wants to play! (She also wants to hang out with super-cute quarterback Ryan Conner. But that’s just icing on the cake.)

Too bad no one else wants her on the team. Not the boys’ coach, not her teammates, and especially not her overprotective dad. Will Lucy cave in to the pressure? Or will she prove she’s pretty tough after all?

Stars: 5/5
Cover: A-

Plot:

When I found out that Liz Tigelaar was writing a companion novel to Pretty Tough, I had to read it immediately. I loved Pretty Tough, and it's a close call to say which book I liked better. Playing Tough really perfected the whole girly-yet-sporty element, and I love the way those two themes were intertwined.

This book was fast-paced, fun, and a super-quick read. I flew through it, and I loved every part of it!

Characters:

I thought it was really cool that the main character, Lucy, was a minor character in the first book in the series, Pretty Tough. It was awesome to get a different look at her that was not through the narrator of Pretty Tough's eyes.

I thought Lucy was very easy to relate to, and that if she was real, I'm pretty sure we'd be best friends.

Not to mention, the supporting characters were wonderful, too. They felt three-dimensional, also, which is sometimes hard to find in books.

Writing:

I really love the way Liz Tigelaar writes. Even though she is older, she writes in the voice of a teenager. I think that adds a lot of character to her books, and makes them a lot more enjoyable.

Ending:

This book is pretty much a fluff read, and the ending totally gives you those little butterflies. It's one of those "it's a happy ending for everyone" books. 

Cover:

The cover is so cute! Like the first book, it really portrays the perfect amount of girly-ness and sporty-ness. I love it!

The Final Verdict:

You don't have to have read Pretty Tough to read this book and understand it, but if you can get your hands on Pretty Tough, I suggest you read it before this one. Either way, Playing With the Boys is a super-cute, uplifting novel that I recommend to people of all ages.

FTC: Bought

Read my review of Pretty Tough by Liz Tigelaar.