Horn Book (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Luck--and confidence--is finally on Ari's side after he acquires a rare soccer trading card and is selected as his team's starting goalie. But when the card goes missing, Ari wonders if his best friend, a hotshot forward, swiped it. Engaging subplots (Ari's brother is a smokejumper, a girl joins the team) add dimension to the quick-paced sports novel.

ALA Booklist (Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Ari's bar mitzvah is on the horizon, but, more immediately, he is concerned about making the division-one soccer team. His automatic response to events ("Call me obsessive") is to observe rituals that seem to guarantee good fortune. Since one challenge leads to another, the need for luck is unending. Yet even the good fortune of finding the most coveted soccer trading card of all can't prevent the damage when his best friend, Mac, refuses to have a girl on the team. The author of Head Case (2007), Aronson develops a multifaceted story through Ari's involving first-person narrative, which provides insights into a number of characters and relationships. Looming in the background are worries about his older brother, who has left Massachusetts to fight wildfires in California. Although Ari seems to grow up a great deal in a relatively short space of time, he'll have readers rooting for him along the way.

Kirkus Reviews

A tense, superstitious, hardworking boy learns that luck is generated from the inside out.  Ari Fish, 12, the younger son in a supportive but educationally ambitious family, is obsessed with soccer and luck. Before he plays a game, he goes through a series of obsessive rituals designed to maximize his good fortune. His best friend, Jerry Mac MacDonald, is cut from a different cloth entirely. The son of an indifferent single mother and unknown father, Mac, who is their team captain, social top-dog and star player, is loosey-goosey cool, a bundle of pure natural talent. Mac and Ari's friendship is tested when a girl, Parker Llewellyn, the daughter of a hard-driving soccer dad, makes it onto the team. In addition to sexism, this event brings out other themes, including the value of preparation and the importance of putting your team first. After an overlong set-up, matters are brought to a head when Ari's lucky soccer card disappears from his backpack. Mac and Parker each accuse the other of stealing it, dividing Ari's loyalties and putting him in a tough social and ethical position. It's a credible middle-grade dilemma, but Aronson couples it with some unnecessary drama involving Ari's firefighter brother. The play-by-play sports action is nicely integrated, though, and it enhances the plotline. The novel ends on a high though bittersweet note; the right thing won't please everyone.   Solid.  (Fiction. 8-12)  

School Library Journal (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Gr 4-8 Ari Fish, 12, believes in luck. Like many athletes, he has pregame rituals: reading the newspaper, checking his horoscope, and eating a particular cereal. On the day he discovers the long-sought-after soccer trading card of his hero, his luck skyrockets: he finally makes first-string goalie. But as Ari's luck increases, his friend Mac's decreases. By far the best player on the team, Mac is not having a good year and hates not being the center of attention. When Ari's card disappears, the newest team member, the first and only girl to play in the boys' league, tells Ari that Mac was the last person near his backpack. Ari must decide which is more valuable, his friendship and the status quo, or supporting and trusting someone telling the truth. Aronson does an excellent job of capturing middle-school voices. Beyond Lucky offers an interesting tale of friendship and competition that moves at a good pace, carefully interweaving the stories of the protagonist's personal and athletic growth. The soccer action will make the story extra appealing to seasoned players, but does not exclude those who are unfamiliar with the sport. While targeted toward a younger audience and not filled with as many social overtones as Chris Crutcher's Whale Talk (HarperCollins, 2001), Aronson's book provides better-than-average character development for a sports novel. Devin Burritt, Jackson Memorial Library, Tenants Harbor, ME