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His name is Ricardo Gomes de Barros, and he is fourteen years old. His aunt, with whom he lives -- he has no parents, although he sometimes hears their voices in his head -- calls him Rico. So does his sister. The other kids, the ones who call him anything at all, call him El Brujito. The Little Magician. The Little Sorcerer. Because he can do impossible things, such as disappear. Turn the wrong way onto a ball, fake you out, and be gone. A minute later, he will reappear in a place where he cannot possibly be. He can take the ball on his chest with his back to you, and even if you charge into him and knock him down, you will not find the ball. You will look around for it only to discover that it has somehow found its way to another forward who has outflanked your entire defense. There is perhaps something supernatural about Brujito's ability to do these things. And he himself would not deny it. Not out of arrogance, but out of modesty.
He is wearing a Deportivo San Juan soccer jersey. Its red and black quarters have faded, and it is ripped at the seam below both armpits. One of his imitation Adidas sneakers is splitting along the seam of the upper and the sole, and the lace of the other has been replaced by green nylon string. The sky above him is pearl white, already pinkish above the tree line. Soon other boys will drift by, and some will call out to him.
"Hey, Brujito! Chill, man! Come on down to the boat shed!"
"Yeah, c'mon, freak! Jaco's got some wicked smoke!"
He will lift a thumb and say, "Cool. See you later maybe."
But he won't go, even though it is rumored that Rafael's sister will be there tonight and they say she will do anything. And in a vague and troubling way, he is curious to discover what anything is. . . . .
______________
THE PENALTY by Mal Peet. Copyright (c) 2007 by Mal Peet. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA."I can't begin to describe how terrific this book is. . . . A glorious, cartwheeling, magical, frightening story. . . . Peet uses the fact that soccer players are known to be superstitious -- and that great soccer players can appear to be supernatural -- to explore ideas of faith, luck, and corruption. But in doing that, he has somehow caught more of the magic and atmosphere of soccer than other, more straightforwardly descriptive writers." -- Frank Cottrell Boyce, THE GUARDIAN
"I can't begin to describe how terrific this book is. . . . A glorious, cartwheeling, magical, frightening story. . . . Peet uses the fact that soccer players are known to be superstitious and that great soccer players can appear to be supernatural to explore ideas of faith, luck, and corruption. But in doing that, he has somehow caught more of the magic and atmosphere of soccer than other, more straightforwardly descriptive writers." Frank Cottrell Boyce, THE GUARDIAN"
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