Football Academy: Striking Out

Tom Palmer's Football Academy: Striking Out is a football story for 8 year olds about a boy who's scoring for fun and still can't get his dad to watch.

What happens

This is the second Football Academy book, and this time we're with Yunis. He's the United under-twelves' number nine. He's got eight goals already this season, including a chip he practised over his dad's washing line.

Every other parent is clapping on the touchline. His aren't. His dad thinks football is a waste of time, and his mum doesn't come either.

Then his dad's been on the phone to school. Yunis's marks have slipped. If they don't pick up by Christmas, Dad will think about taking him out of United altogether. And there's a letter about a club trip to Poland still sitting in Yunis's pocket, because he daren't show anyone.

So he does his homework wherever he can. On a cold corridor floor at the training ground. In the changing room with a copy of Macbeth. (Shakespeare isn't really his thing. Is it anyone's on a school night?)

Meanwhile there's Craig, the quiet lad with the very hard tackles, whose dad is always with him. Yunis is sure Craig is rubbing his nose in it. It gets heated between them. Then he gets dropped to the bench while he's playing the best football of his life.

What makes this one is how real Yunis's feelings are. He's jealous of other boys and their dads, cross with his own, and then suddenly not sure he's being fair. His dad isn't a baddie either. He's strict and worried, and you can see why.

It's worth knowing about a few things. Ryan, the captain, makes fun of Tomasz the keeper's Polish accent. Yunis and Craig shove each other and end up on the floor. Craig's parents have split up, and there's a conversation about people like Yunis's family not being made welcome at football grounds when his dad was young. For most readers this will just make the story feel true, but a child going through a family break-up might find Craig's bits close to home.

If your reader loves football but also gets the pull between matches and homework, this will feel very familiar. Between chapters you get the match result and the manager's mark out of ten for every player, which is a nice touch for football fans.

What to read next

Jake from the trials is Yunis's best mate, and their first meeting is in Boys United. If you want to start at the beginning, that's where Jake arrives at United as the boy everyone says is too small.