Preston football legends, a thrill-ride and word power By various authors - book reviews -

Age 9 plus:

Dick, Kerr Girls: Kicking Off!

Eve Ainsworth

They were the team of ordinary working girls from Preston who made footballing history…

And now those plucky munitions workers from the Dick, Kerr factory in Strand Road – whose first match was played before an astonishing 10,000 spectators at Deepdale on Christmas Day in 1917 – are the stars of a thrilling new children’s series from Carnegie-nominated author Eve Ainsworth.

Kicking Off! is the first book in a three-part Dick, Kerr Girls series and was written by Ainsworth with the help of Preston author and historian, Gail Newsham, to create a retelling of the events leading up to the formation of the famous Preston football team which went on to play in front of crowds the size of today’s men’s Premier League teams.

It’s 1917, and Britain is at war. Shy 15-year-old Hettie from Spa Road, who watched her beloved brother Freddie head off to the dark, brutal world of the frontline in France, wants to help the war effort too, and signs up to work in the local Dick, Kerr & Co munitions factory. She’s nervous, but she has no idea quite how much her life will change.

Because inside this factory are young women who are about to make sporting history. Can Hettie find the courage to join them, and in doing so, find her own place in the world?

Ainsworth, who is also a creative workshop co-ordinator and public speaker, reveals: ‘Not only am I huge football fan, but I’m also a working class author who was exhilarated and moved by these women’s stories and the obstacles they overcame to be one of the most successful football teams of all time. Young readers need to be told their story so that they can be inspired and motivated too.’

Meticulously researched and brimming with the excitement and determination of those footballing legends, Kicking Off! also reminds us of the obstacles these young women faced, and the release that sport offered them from their dangerous and exhausting work in the factory.

From making ammunition to making new friendships and making history, this is an inspirational tale of the skill and fortitude of a group of unforgettable women whose story is sure to resonate with today’s generation of aspiring female footballers.

(UCLan Publishing, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus:

Kidnap on the California Comet (Adventures on Trains)

M.G. Leonard, Sam Sedgman and Elisa Paganelli

Enjoy an adrenalin-fuelled thrill-ride across America on the California Comet as a heart-thumping, all-action train adventure leaves the station!

Kidnap on the California Comet is the second book in Adventures on Trains, the captivating middle-grade series from mystery-writing duo M.G. Leonard, prize-winning author of the Battle of the Beetles trilogy, and Sam Sedgman, a writer and lifelong train enthusiast, with Elisa Paganelli’s vibrant black and white illustrations providing the extra bells and whistles.

So sit back and enjoy the heart-stopping chase as we join 11-year-old Harrison Beck on his quest to solve another mystery full of puzzles, train facts galore, and lots of fascinating clues to solve.

After the excitement of his adventures aboard the Highland Falcon Thief, budding young artist Harrison (Hal) Beck can’t wait for the opportunity to go on another amazing train journey. And when his travel-writer Uncle Nat invites him aboard the California Comet as a 12th birthday treat, for the iconic three-day train journey from Chicago’s Union Station to San Francisco, he leaps at the chance to travel.

But when Marianne, daughter of famous billionaire entrepreneur August Reza, goes missing en route, Hal, along with his new friends Hadley and Mason, must use all their detective skills to solve the mystery. Can they uncover the kidnapper and find the missing girl before journey’s end?

This witty, clever and suspense-packed series is certainly on the fast track to success. With a cast of sparkling characters, a train-load of fascinating facts, adventure at every junction, and a baffling mystery to solve, Leonard and Sedgman are pulling out all the stops as they take youngsters on one of the wildest and most wonderful reading journeys of the year.

The train is now waiting for all young adventurers!

(Macmillan Children’s Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 7 plus:

The Witches: The Graphic Novel

Roald Dahl and Pénélope Bagieu

If you love Roald Dahl’s darkly funny fantasy novel, The Witches, then get your hands on this fabulous, first ever graphic version of the master storyteller’s much-loved classic.

Eisner Award-winning French artist Pénélope Bagieu casts a spell over readers young and old with this dazzling colour adaptation which offers a dynamic new take on the tale featuring a sinister world where child-hating societies of witches secretly exist in every country.

The book marks the first time that any of Dahl’s works have been adapted into comic form and Bagieu, who has set the story in the present day, says she first encountered the book when she was aged about eight and that it was the catalyst for her love of reading.

Witches are real, and they are very, very dangerous. They wear ordinary clothes and have ordinary jobs, living in ordinary towns all across the world – and there’s nothing they despise more than children.

When a recently orphaned eight-year-old boy and his grandmother (a former witch-hunter, no less) come face-to-face with the vicious and powerful Grand High Witch herself, they may be the only ones who can stop the witches’ latest plot to stamp out every last child in the country!

First published in 1983, and still one of Dahl’s most popular books, The Witches gets an appealing 21st century twist in Bagieu’s exciting and eye-catching version which uses gorgeous artwork and a contemporary spin to bring the story to life, while staying true to the dark humour and spirit of the original.

And with a new film based on the novel – starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Rock – due to be released in 2021, there could be no better time to introduce a new generation to those dastardly witches.

(Scholastic, hardback, £12.99)

Age 7 plus:

365 Words Every Kid Should Know

Lauren Holowaty and Martina Motzo