Keeper by Mal Peet
Reviewed by: Chris Singer
About the author:
Mal Peet grew up in North Norfolk, and studied English and American Studies at the University of Warwick. Later he moved to south west England and worked at a variety of jobs before turning full-time to writing and illustrating in the early 1990s. With his wife, Elspeth Graham, he has written and illustrated many educational picture books for young children, and his cartoons have appeared in a number of magazines. He and Elspeth live in Exmouth, Devon.
He is the author of several novels for young adults. His first, Keeper, was published in 2003, and won the Branford Boase Award. His second, Tamar (2005), the story of two men caught up in secret operations during World War II, won the 2005 Carnegie medal. His third novel, The Penalty (2006), returns to the South American location of Keeper, and sets a modern-day story of crime and corruption against an historical narrative of slavery and occult religion. It was shortlisted for the 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize.
His latest novel is Exposure (2008), a modern re-telling of Othello and winner of the 2009 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
About the book:
In a newspaper office, Paul Faustino, South America's top football writer, sits opposite the man they call El Gato "the Cat", the world's greatest goalkeeper. On the table between them stands the World Cup. In the hours that follow, El Gato tells his incredible story – how he, a poor logger's son, learns to become a World Cup-winning goalkeeper so good he is almost unbeatable. And the most remarkable part of this story is the man who teaches him: the mysterious Keeper, who haunts a football pitch at the heart of the claustrophobic rainforest.
My take on the book:
Over the summer, I won a bunch of soccer books during a contest over at Dad of Divas held in honor of the World Cup. In my prize books, I found three works of fiction by Mal Peet. Keeper is the first of the three I will be reviewing. I wasn't sure I'd be reviewing all of these but after reading this one, I'm sold on reading the others as well.
I'm a huge soccer fan and can pretty much read anything related to soccer. However, Peet's book is much more than a book about soccer. It is also a coming of age story amidst the backdrop of an environmental message concerning the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. I was blown away by Peet's story which was framed as an interview between a South American sports reporter (there is a tie-in website for the reporter, Paul Faustino, a very cool and clever addition to the book) and the world's best soccer goalkeeper, "El Gato." In the interview, the goalie relates how he grew up in an isolated logging community outside of the Amazon jungle, and how he developed from a gangly and klutzy kid into a legendary goalkeeper and winner of the World Cup.
Peet adds another kicker into his story by adding elements of magical realism through the introduction of a mystical soccer pitch in a clearing in the jungle where an apparition known as the Keeper appears and trains the boy to be the greatest goalkeeper ever. Other themes relatable to teens include believing in yourself and meeting the expectations of your parents. School librarians and teachers could definitely use this book in their classrooms.
I highly recommend this book to teens in grade 9-12 and even to adults in general. It was a very quick and fun read. Mal Peet is a tremendous storyteller and leaves you wanting more. I'm looking forward to reading the next two books.
