title: The Million Dollar Shot

author: Dan Gutman

Whisper, a young girl, was playing soccer for the first time and she scored in her own goal. Whisper has this mental videotape that was about scoring in her own goal. She could fast forward it, she could make it go backwards, and in slow motion. One thing Whisper Nelson couldn't do was erase her mental videotape. Whisper’s Dad works as a pilot for the Wiley Post Airport and he flies jumbo jets. Whisper Nelson's mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Whisper's mom is now in a wheelchair. Whisper's sister Briana is very good at sports and has a lot of trophies in her room. Whisper and Briana go to Donut City where Briana sees a contest to win a million dollars. That person has to make a new slogan for the Kick a Professional Women's Soccer Team. Briana was too young to enter the contest so she put Whisper's name on the form. A few days after Briana entered Whisper in the contest a man named Joe Fine called Whisper and told her she won the contest. Joe Fine told Whisper that on June 5th she would go to Taft Stadium for the chance to win one million dollars if she could get a soccer ball past the Kick's goal keeper, Carmen Applegate. Briana was waiting for her friend Jennifer to come pick her up for her soccer game when the door bell rang. Briana opened the door and Bobbie Frisk, the news lady, said she came to interview Whisper. Later Whisper, her mom, dad, and Briana went to Taft Stadium so Whisper could meet Carmen Applegate. Whisper wore a soccer jersey and said she looked like a walking lollipop.
Whisper and her mother go to Rogers High School to get help from the soccer team. Whisper goes home to her house from the High School and she was upset because the High School soccer girls were mean to her and made her cry. After Whisper got back to her house Jess Kirby came to show Whisper something on his computer. Whisper Nelson was working on her homework when all of a sudden there was a knock on her front door and her mom answered the door. There was a girl at the door and her name was Ellie Gonzales. Ellie wanted to help Whisper out because the other high school girls on the soccer team would not help her. Whisper went over to the high school to meet Ellie Gonzales. When Whisper got to the high school Ellie was not there yet. So Whisper waited. Ellie was taking Whisper to the old YMCA for her practice. Ellie put a rubber band in Whisper's hair and put her hair in a ponytail. Whisper didn't want her hair in a ponytail because it showed her ears and Whisper thinks she has big ears. Ellie tells Whisper to practice one hundred shots at her garage door and to be careful to use the right form for kicking a soccer ball correctly. Later at home, Briana came running into the kitchen with the newspaper. It was open to the sports section. Briana showed Whisper and her mom the sports article that said the Oklahoma City Kick was going to get rid of Carmen Applegate Whisper showed the article to her dad. He said it was a psych-out trick.
It was now May, Whisper's school was coming to an end. It was only a week left before Whisper had to take the million dollar kick. Ellie told Whisper that she saw construction equipment over by the YMCA building so they had to practice in Whisper's driveway. Ellie and Whisper played a game called Sock Bowl. Briana was running around the house screaming "Whisper is going to be on TV"! After seeing Whisper on TV Jess called Whisper and told her she looked great. He asked Whisper if he could videotape her at her practices. After practice Whisper, Jess, and Ellie went inside Whisper's house to watch what Jess videotaped. Suddenly, on the videotape, they saw someone in the window. It was Carmen Applegate. When Whisper found out that Carmen Applegate was spying on her, she was in a huge shock. Whisper wondered how long had Carmen Applegate spied on her, and Jess, Ellie. Whisper's family told her that it was because Carmen Applegate was afraid of her. When Whisper got home from the woods she saw that Carmen Applegate was there. Whisper was eating her cereal and watching TV. Then Whisper heard on the news that Carmen Applegate was injured from a tornado. After the news report was over Whisper's mom called the Oklahoma City Kick and they said that the show must go on. Ellie was the backup goalie. Whisper saw that her coach was the backup goalie and Whisper was scared. Whisper did not know what to do. Ellie had taught her everything she knew. When Whisper looked at Jess he mouthed to her stick with the plan. Whisper was ready to take to million dollar kick and she aimed for the left. Whisper hit the ball very hard to the left but Ellie nipped the ball away and Whisper was sad. But then the referee said that Ellie went off the line before the ball was kicked and Whisper got to retake the shot. This time Whisper aimed for the right side of the net. Will Whisper make the shot? Will her fear take control of her? Find out when you read The Million Dollar Kick.

Thank you,
Daniel