«The Penalty Area» by Alain Gillot

“Gillot’s novel about soccer is also a delicate character study of a solitary man slowly rejoining the world” (Publishers Weekly).Vincent once had a shot at becoming a professional soccer player, but a career-ruining injury put an end to his dreams. A tough kid from a poor family, he has become an emotionally cut-off man with frustrated hopes and limited options. He finds himself coaching an under-sixteen soccer club in an attempt to keep alive his only passion.The team he coaches is little more than a roster of hotheaded boys, none of whom understands the on-field chemistry needed to win. Simply put, they aren’t of a championship caliber. Then Vincent’s unemployed sister, a single mother, suddenly dumps her thirteen-year-old son on him. With no clue how to take care of a teenager, Vincent panics. He decides to bring his nephew to practice, and eventually throws him into the scrimmage.It’s then that Vincent notices there’s something strange about Léonard. He has a preternatural ability for anticipating each striker’s intentions, making him a remarkably talented goalkeeper, but he seems detached, absent, lost. It becomes clear that Léonard has undiagnosed Asperger’s syndrome—and also that, with Léonard’s abilities as a goalie, Vincent’s ragtag team has a chance to reach the finals. The team will need to rally behind this strange kid from Paris in order to get there, and for that to happen, Vincent will have to let down his guard and open his heart for the first time ever.“No love of sport is required to feel the genuine emotion pulsing from this story about making connections.” —Shelf Awareness