The Keyper

In the gloomy, mysterious, and personal story called The Keeper, by Mal Peet, a man named Paul Faustino must interview one of the best goalkeepers of all time, El Gato. When Faustino first sees El Gato, he thought he looked very mean and strong, El Gato was about 6 feet tall and four inches and a little overweight. When Paul Faustino asks the first question about El Gato’s childhood he becomes intrigued and fascinated with Gato’s story.

As a young child El Gato’s father used to cut down many trees. Every morning El Gato’s father would get up very early to catch the truck that would take him to his job. Gato’s family was very poor, he lived with his mother, father, sister, and his nana. El Gato liked to play soccer at the time but he wasn’t very good. He played with a bunch of other kids who were really good soccer. After a few years El Gato still was not as good as the other kids, he felt like giving up soccer. But El Gato really enjoyed playing soccer, and didn’t want to give it up. So El Gato tried out a new position, goalie.  That’s when Gato realized he found his soccer position.
I recommend  this book to anyone who is a sports fan. Every chapter is filled with exciting and new information about El Gato. After the first chapter I was left hanging and so was Faustino, I wanted to know more about El Gato and how became a famous goalkeeper. This story reminds of a real life situation, from when I was younger,  I was introduced to soccer but I was not that good, I would trip  over the ball quite often and could not even dribble the ball well either. After my first season I wanted to give soccer another try. This season seemed to be even harder than the last, harder practices, bigger fields, and different rules. At that time I thought I thought I would never be as good as the other kids. I felt like giving up but I really liked to play soccer so decided to take soccer academy and continue playing soccer. I wouldn’t be the soccer player I am today if I gave up, neither would El Gato.