Written by former New Zealand international footballer and current head of women’s football Michele Cox, Sammy Joins the Shooting Stars joins the growing league of football fiction aimed at involving girls in the beautiful game. Suiting a mid-primary school reader, the illustrated text follows nine-yearold avid footballer Sammy Banks and her soccermad dog Splodge. After Sammy accidentally kicks her ball through the open Shooting Stars coach’s window, she is invited to train with the champion football team in the hope of securing a spot. But Sammy worries that she won’t be good enough to make the cut. And it’s not just low self esteem that she has to contend with, as prospective team mate Kane, who fears losing his own spot, is hell-bent on ensuring that she doesn’t make the squad. The first book in a young adult series by Michele Cox, whose previous titles include the adult nonfiction Sunrise from the Summit and Growing Tall Poppies, Sammy Joins the Shooting Stars is an engaging read, delivering invaluable messages about practice, persistence, and courage. With Sammy playing alongside boys-and even showing some of them up-it reflects FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s prediction that ‘the future of football is feminine’.

Fiona Crawford is a Brisbane-based writer, editor, proofreader and sports fanatic

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