BUSTED!

A slightly naïve, but very sympathetic young hero finds himself trapped in a hilarious nightmare of being “busted.” Twelve-year-old Stuart Ellis loves playing soccer for the Oak Park Warriors and working on his dragon Web site. But the only dragon in Stuart’s life is his overly protective widowed mother, who seems obsessed with “making rules and catching him breaking them.” Busted for the third time in three weeks, Stuart is grounded, computer privileges revoked, and video games put off-limits. As his social life evaporates, Stuart frantically consults his savvy best girl-pal Mack, who suggests his mother needs the distraction of a boyfriend. When his mother threatens to take away soccer, a desperate Stuart attempts a bit of misguided match-making between her and his soccer coach and ends up nearly alienating everyone he cares about, including Mack and the entire soccer team. Brimming with soccer scenes and humor, this modern family story rings true. (Fiction. 8-12)