The new Play Like a Girl series will appeal to any sport loving girl who has ever thought about giving footy a go themselves.
Sarah moves to a new town and on her first day makes friends with Hahn, who plays for the girls’ footy team. Sarah used to live near the beach and her passion has always been surfing, so even though she enjoys watching footy, she has never really thought about playing it herself.
After a visit to the school from Katie Brennan, one of the stars of the Western Bulldogs team, Sarah decides to try footy for herself.
The coach is not what she expected and on the first training session, Sarah runs away in tears thinking she’s not good enough. But she soon learns that the most important part of playing footy is having fun with your friends and enjoying the sport.
My eight year old was one of the many throngs of young girls who took to the footy field this year for the first time to ‘Play Like a Girl’. She fumbled more than she marked but the important thing is that she had fun doing it and it's great to see books that sport loving girls can relate to.
This is a short chapter book with simple text so whilst it could be read by an eight year old, it would probably appeal to a slightly older audience as it also deals with themes of self-consciousness, jealousy and making new friends. It would be a good one for engaging more reluctant mid to upper primary readers who are interested in sport.
The key message of Bring it On is that playing footy is about passion for the sport, fun with your friends and giving it a go. As long as you’re loving what you’re doing, and willing to give it your all, skills will develop over time and you'll have the reward of playing as part of a great team.
Author: Jo Stanley
Publisher: Five Mile, $12.99
Publication Date: 1 September 2017
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760409470
For ages: 8 - 12
Type: Junior Fiction
