Everybody’s a star, a brilliant creation.
The trouble is finding the right constellation!

Ellie McSnelly and Carrie O’Toole, the winning pair of friends from The Brand New Kid, are back in a new adventure. Ellie and Carrie decide to try out for the school team in their favorite sport, soccer. But when only one of the girls is selected, the inseparable pair faces a challenge(what do you say when your best friend is terribly disappointed?

But while some disappointments can’t be avoided, Carrie learns (with some help from her mother and her old friend Lazlo) that while she may not be good at everything, she has undiscovered talents waiting to bloom, if she has the courage to try something new.

For every reader who has ever set his or her heart on joining a sports team, getting a part in the school play, or winning a class election, and been let down, Katie Couric’s reassuring and inspiring story gives a charming lesson in confidence.

FROM OUR EDITORS

In Katie Couric's The Brand New Kid, Ellie McSnelly and Carrie O'Toole coped with the rigors of their first day in second grade. In The Blue Ribbon Day, this almost inseparable pair is back to confront a friendship trauma that every kid can understand: Both Ellie and Carrie try out for the soccer team, but only one of them makes the grade. Can their friendship survive this bump in the road?

ANNOTATION

When Carrie is disappointed not to make the school soccer team, she turns her attention to creating a science fair project.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Katie Couric, admired and loved by millions of viewers of The Today Show and Dateline, won a whole new generation of fans with The Brand New Kid, her first book for children. A story about the need for tolerance, it debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and remained there for many weeks.

In her new book, Couric explores an aspect of childhood that will resonate with kids and parents alike. Once again featuring Ellie McSnelly and Carrie O'Toole, the winning pair of friends introduced in The Brand New Kid, the girls tackle American children's favorite pastime — soccer — and the disappointment of not being picked for the team. Couric's simple story will comfort and reassure every child who has set his or her heart on joining a sports team, getting a part in the school play, or winning a class election only to be let down. More importantly, children will learn the invaluable lesson that everyone has a talent waiting to be discovered. Illustrated by the award-winning artist Marjorie Priceman, this is an ideal gift. Like Dr. Seuss's Oh,the Places You'll Go!, it is sure to be a treasured favorite in every family's library.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The creators of The Brand New Kid bring back best friends Ellie McSnelly and Carrie O'Toole in this reassuring if clich -riddled tale about dealing with disappointment and discovering one's special talent. After the pals spy a sign announcing tryouts for the school soccer team, "Carrie said, `Great! Hey, let's give it a whirl!/ I'd love to be known as a cool soccer girl!' " In rhymed couplets that range from amusing to corny, the narrative describes the tryouts and the sobering results for Ellie, who fails to make the team. Her mother consoles her, yet delivers a muddled message ("Her mom said, `Don't worry, I know you are sad,/ but you couldn't feel good if you never felt bad' "). Luckily, Ellie excels in academia, teaming up with her lab partner (the no-longer brand-new kid, Lazlo) to enter a project in the science fair. Readers will be pleased though hardly surprised that both girls earn their equivalent of a blue ribbon. Priceman's signature bright hues and whimsical flourishes inject some spirit into the spot and full-bleed illustrations, but the plot does not offer her an opportunity to exhibit her usual range here. Ages 3-8. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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