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It’s soccer season — Shaken is a book
about a 7th grade soccer player
who suffers from a serious concussion.
It throws her life, and sense of identity,
up in the air.
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Fun, right?
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Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature named it one of the Best Children’s Books for 2025 (of books published in 2024).
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It was not a widely reviewed book, which has become a serious problem for me, and others, and for certain types of literature in general. It’s a failure of the industry overall, for a variety of reasons. I don’t think a lot of folks have read SHAKEN. Oh, well. Maybe it’s just not that kind of book. Maybe it’s simply very hard for quiet books to cut through an increasingly cluttered marketplace.
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Here’s the Kirkus review:
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>> Life changes quickly for a middle schooler after an accident forces her to slow down and reevaluate who she is.
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Thirteen-year-old Kristy Barrett has always attracted attention on the soccer field: As a 4-year-old, people saw her playing and just knew there was something different about her, from her focus to her speed. She was special. This phrase has been repeated her whole life. Now, as a seventh grader, Kristy is starting on the varsity girls’ soccer team, dominating players who are several years older than she. Soccer isn’t just her passion, it’s her identity, the thing that people notice her for—and she loves it. But after she’s kicked in the head while diving for the ball, she suffers a traumatic concussion. Suddenly, Kristy is a different person—and no one seems to understand her or what she needs or even how to talk to her now that she’s not that special soccer player. Preller’s careful pacing matches the fuzziness and slow healing of Kristy’s brain, introducing readers to the realities of the pain, loss, and feelings of isolation that dedicated athletes often experience when they can no longer play. The somber tone of the story is lightened by the presence of two minor characters who bring levity and humor. Strong themes of healing (both physical and emotional), family, and friendship abound. Main characters cued white.
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An introspective and realistic coming-of-age story about rediscovering oneself. (Fiction. Ages 9-13.) <<
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