Gummshoes Mission #1: The Nobbled Numbskull

Gummshoes Mission #1: The Nobbled Numbskull by E.J. Gore (Coppertop Press) RRP $8.99 ISBN 978-0-9873708-8-4

Reviewed by Elizabeth Vercoe This first book in the Australian series of adventures by the Gummshoe Gang has a big heart. It contains a familiar, important message hidden in the question of just who IS sabotaging the school’s star soccer player (and erstwhile bully) Nits – and why?

We are rapidly introduced to a large cast of characters including the ‘nerdy’ Frankie and Ollie who befriend a younger, also ‘nerdy’ Alex, and welcome him into the Gummshoe Gang. Together and separately, the three deals with challenging situations that are translatable to most school playgrounds.
There’s something for most kids in this story that centres on school and football, with a mystery to be solved and bullies to be thwarted. Unrequited tween love also makes an appearance, and the realisation that things are not always as they seem among children, and among adults too.

Author and primary school teacher EJ Gore’s own mission to equip young people with strategies for social inclusion, dealing with bullies and standing up for the ‘right’ thing, is a generous one that works. The characters recognise and build on their own strengths in a way that opens up possibilities for young readers’ own lives. These skills touch on the ideas of being a good friend, harnessing resilience and solving problems. Gore’s gentle, humour-laden writing style reveals a thorough knowledge of her readership and what will have them entertained. 

After initially having to re-read the opening in order to be clear about ‘who was saying what’, I was transported into the world of the book where I willingly stayed for the duration. There’s a lovely balance between mystery and drama in this story that will appeal to both boys and girls.

The end pages feature a word-search puzzle, and children are invited to become part of the Gummshoe Gang via a website. 
   

Hubert and the Magic Glasses

Hubert and the Magic Glasses by Candice Lemon-Scott, illustrated by Joe Spellman (New Frontier Publishing)

PB RRP $12.95

ISBN – 9781921928246

Reviewed by Emma Cameron

When the story opens, a nervous eleven year old Hubert is in the change room taking his time to put on his soccer gear. He loves soccer but for some reason he seems to play worse each week, not better like his team mates. When it becomes apparent that he needs glasses, Hubert instantly goes into denial. He doesn’t want to let his team down but he doesn’t want to be different either.

Readers will understand his dilemma but will also be pleased to see that he gets no say in whether he will or won’t wear glasses to play. They’ll also delight in seeing how stunned he is to discover that the glasses help. His vastly improved play takes the Able Ants to the grand final. When his glasses smash before the big game the optometrist fixes them with magic but stresses to Hubert that it is he who much control the magic, not the other way around.

Hubert is surrounded by helpful and caring family and friends but the story also shows how it is he who is really able to help himself the most by overcoming his own low self-confidence. It’s a great lesson in how skill will only develop if you keep at it and that simply giving it all you can is sometimes the best magic there is.

Like other titles in the Little Rockets series this book contains well-spaced text and colourful illustrations to help break up the nine chapters, thereby encouraging young readers finding their feet in the world of chapter books to give it a go. The high quality paper used in production of this series, for readers aged 7+, will prove excellent for very likely repeated library borrowing.

Jake’s Great Game

Jake’s Great Game by Ken Spillman, illustrated by Chris Nixon (Fremantle Press)
PB RRP $10.95
ISBN 9-781-921-888-502
Reviewed by Neridah McMullin


Jake’s Great Game is a fast moving, fun and lively read for junior primary readers. 


Jake decides he wants to start playing soccer and his dad takes him to buy some footy boots. Jake likes the silver ones, and he just knows he’s going to be an awesome soccer star! But Jake’s enthusiasm soon takes a nosedive, as he finds out that soccer is not as easy as he thought it would be. When he isn’t tripping, he’s slipping. His dribbling looks like bad passing and his passing looks like bad dribbling. Will he ever get his great game? Everyone else seems to have the hang of it except him.


The moral of Jake's Great Game is that if you keep trying you'll be rewarded. It’s all about persistence and application. This message is delivered through the story of Jake trying to play soccer. His initial failure (despite his new silver footy boots) is compounded by the fact that Jake’s dad isn’t very knowledgeable about soccer either, as much as he tries to help Jake. However, things greatly improve when Jake's coach recognises Jake’s instinctive ability as a goalie. Jake’s Nana provides him with lots of practice in the backyard and his first game is a an absolute triumph. Jake is an awesome soccer star goalie!


Funny, wise and beautifully told, Jake’s Great Game is a fun story for kids who are starting to read books with chapters. Chris Nixon’s black-and-white illustrations can be found on every page. You don’t need to have to have read all the other Jake Series books to enjoy this one but if you have read the others, you’ll probably want to read this one, too—especially if you like books about sport.


The Jake series are terrific stories for boys and girls from five to ten years of age and they have a range comprehensive teaching notes readily available on-line at http://www.fremantlepress.com.au/resources/teachersnotes


Neridah McMullin is the author of three books for children. Her next book is an Indigenous folklore story called 'Kick it to me!'. It’s an ‘aussie rules’ story that’s being endorsed by the Australian Football League. Neridah loves family, footy, and doing yoga with her cat Carlos (who also happens to love footy!). www.neridahmcmullin.com

Striker: Sudden Death

Striker: Sudden Death by Nick Hale (Egmont Press)

PB RRP $16.95

ISBN 9781405249508

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

What happens when your parents are divorced and after making the decision to move across the world to be with your father, incredible things start to happen, and you discover that almost everything you’ve been told is a lie?  Welcome to Jake’s life.

Jake Bastin at sixteen is a soccer team captain, and is following a life in sport left by his legendary father’s footsteps. He has abandoned Paris and his mother to join his father, Steve, in London. He barely arrives when Chernoff, his father’s friend hiding a suspect past, is poisoned in a restaurant while dining together. This sets off a course of events that force Jake to question everything he has been told by his enigmatic father.

Jake travels with his father to Russia at the request of the billionaire, Popov, in his private jet to coach a new team. While in mid-air, a fellow traveller and the two pilots are shot dead. Steve’s quick and cool-headed reaction saves their lives. Jake secretly questions the curious fact that Popov totally disregard these traumatic events, and acts as if nothing untoward has happened. These murders set a precedent for the remainder of the Jake’s Russian visit.

Jake’s curious and dissatisfied mind sends him out in search of answers and he uncovers ghastly secrets through detective work and lots of eavesdropping. He learns of sinister plots that involve his father in some way or another. Corruption seems to be everywhere and murder is a regular occurrence.

How and why is scientific research on tidal energy tied into a soccer match? Is Jake’s father really involved in murder? Why is the Russian Mafia and MI6 involved in something as everyday as sport?

This is a new action thriller series with a new young hero and countless twists and turns. It is riveting and fast-paced, and will be devoured at one sitting.  

The David Beckham Academy: Captain Incredible

The David Beckham Academy: Captain Incredible by Emily Stead, illustrated by Adam Relf (Egmont)

PB RRP $12.95
ISBN 978-1-4052-5165-5
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

At the David Beckham Academy in London, boys and girls go to learn about football (soccer), develop their skills while having fun, gain self-confidence, and learn team work.

The main characters in this sports story are Dan, VJ and Mia. Dan has won a competition and the prize was two days at the Academy. VJ is a dreamer, and all he dreams about in class is soccer. Mia is bossy and controlling, and is the Captain of her school team’s under- elevens, therefore feels it is her right to captain this team as well. All the arrivals share a common goal no matter what brought them to the same destination. They long to live their dream for two days as they take part in competition games against other teams. The ultimate reward is a trophy for the winners.

The Academy turns out to be larger than anything the children expected. They are given royal blue Academy uniform kits, and end up on the same team, Brazil. They are all shy with one another at the start. Their coach, Woody, loses no time and gets them all out on the field for a warm up in preparation for selection.

These children know their game. They live it and breathe it. For some, it is all they have of interest in their lives. This is the beginning of a great accomplishment for the group as they play under the colours of various countries and work their way to the trophy.

But it is hard work and many lessons must be learnt. There is no place for pride or self-gratification. Group effort is what propels them to the winner’s position and vanity is washed away. The importance of reporting an injury also comes home to each and every player when VJ injures his ankle and delays the reporting of it to his coach. There are rules that must be adhered to, and for some of the children, this doesn’t come easy.

These are inspiring stories for all children in the 7+ age group who have any interest at all in any sport, not only soccer. The ethical parts of playing group sports are accentuated, particularly that of team spirit, working together for a common goal and respecting the rules of the game as well as one another regardless of their position on the field.

The illustrations play a large roll in the communion of text and image. Although black and white, the pictures are alive on the page and follow the text closely to give an intimate view of the story.

David Beckham’s photo is on the front of every book in the series of which there are now six, and the covers are in a glossy finish with full colour pictures, with royal blue the dominant colour.

The David Beckham Academy: Away From Home

The David Beckham Academy: Away From Home by Emily Stead, illustrated by Adam Relf (Egmont)

PB RRP $12.95

ISBN 978-1-4052-5164-8

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

This is another title with positive themes in the David Beckham Academy series of books. The story focuses mainly on three children; George, Ben and Stephan. They arrive at the Academy to learn what it means to play in real teams, under real team names, with a cup as the trophy to the winners at the tournament end. They will also get skills training, confidence building, and their self-esteem will be greatly increased by the time they set off for home again.

Stephan is a Polish boy who can’t speak English and for this reason, he is confronted with a great many obstacles. But he can play football (soccer) like a professional and he proves that the spoken language is not the only form of communication available when it comes to playing sport.

Kelly is the coach of Holland, the team in which the three children are allocated. Stephan tries his best to get a grip on what is being said in the skills training, but fails to do so. Luckily Ben is up first and Stephan follows his lead and comes out the best of the group. Ben claims the captaincy and hands out the positions to the rest of the team. When it comes to Stephan, the Polish boy tries miming to explain what he does best and is misunderstood, and is put into defence position instead of striker, which has adverse effects on the team’s performance.

It’s not until Holland have lost several games and become disillusioned, that things take a turn. Stephan is passing a training room when he sees a tactics board with play positions drawn up. He realises he has discovered the way to communicate without words. He calls the team in and calls each person’s name as he points to their position, then his as striker. He draws up the lines of play and defence and the team returns with full force to take the trophy, which is presented to them by David Beckham.

This series comes highly recommended by the reviewer. There are a lot of values and positive themes in these books which aimed at teaching children the important issues of team play, patience and perseverance. Each book has several lessons to be learnt, with each character evolving by some degree fro the better by the end of the book. Ideally suited for children aged 7+, these books will catch the interest of a wide-ranging audience not necessarily only those interested in sport.

Goal! How football conquered the world

Goal! How football conquered the world by Catherine Chambers (black dog books)
PB RRP $14.99
ISBN 978-1-74203-157-6
Reviewed by Anke Seib

Catherine Chambers has a wonderful way of blending the history of football with world history, giving readers a fully rounded context in which to view the game of soccer. Did you know that many early matches were more like mob brawls and that some leaders tried to ban them? A vast variety of information and a lively layout means this book presents readers with a treasure trove of spice and fun, including all that lies behind the game, its history and its fans.

Part of bdb’s magnificent Drum Series, this work shows football’s evolution through a variety of ancient ball and field sports to final standardisation of rules, explaining how soccer separated from contact codes like league, union and Aussie Rules. Chronological history is interspersed with player profiles, quirky information panels, quotes from big names and odd historical facts (e.g. in the 1870s a US cigarette manufacturer printed player pictures on cigarette pack ‘stiffeners’, thus creating our first ‘footy cards’.)

While hard to prove exactly who invented soccer, Chambers uses historical facts, archaeological evidence and statistics to build a picture of what is likely to have lead to the game we now know. She also reveals what balls have been made of and called in the past, how many players exist in the world, how many teams form FIFA and the rise of women in the sport. Despite Oscar Wilde being quoted in the 1800s as saying football was fine for girls but hardly suitable for delicate boys, it was not until 1970 that the Deutscher Fussball-Bund allowed these frail creatures to play!

Whether a sports buff or not, there is much to grab a reader’s interest. Certainly this book should be in every library and would be useful for many areas of study. I recommend it for readers ten and over but certainly not just for children. Anyone who enjoys observing human behaviour, widening their knowledge of history, or exploring what brings nations together in peace rather than war, will enjoy the spirit of all that is celebrated in Goal!