The National Year of Reading’s monthly theme for August, Read the Game, produced a list of suggestions covering the real and the virtual, from football to mountaineering, cycling to swimming. Why not borrow one of these from the library?
MacB by Neil Arksey
Football can be deadly... In this highly original reworking of the Macbeth story, MacB is driven to do whatever is necessary to fulfil his ambition to captain the school team.
Divided City by Theresa Breslin
In Glasgow, with its religious, sporting and political divisions, football unites people as nothing else. Joe and Graham, from opposite religious camps, are a brilliant team on the pitch - and as they work together to get a place in the Glasgow team, and to help the young asylum seeker Kyoul, a new tolerance and understanding is forged.
Fat Boy Swim by Catherine Forde
Jimmy is obese, useless at football, and the constant target of the school’s most unpleasant bullies. However he's a talented cook, and at night he is haunted by dreams of being a powerful and graceful swimmer. A hugely satisfying read in which dreams come true, wrongs are righted and family secrets uncovered.
A Little Piece of Ground by Elizabeth Laird
Living in the occupied Palestinian city of Ramallah, 12 year Karim wants more than anything to be 'champion footballer of the entire world'. Despite the curfews and the dangers of living under Israeli occupation he and his friends make a football pitch out of a patch of waste ground. The preoccupations of an ordinary boy sit movingly alongside a tragic and terrifying modern conflict.
The Penalty by Mal Peet
Sports journalist Paul Faustino is unwillingly drawn into a hunt for a missing young football prodigy. A story of corruption, murder, slavery and the power of the occult, and a thrilling read.
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson (on the non-fiction shelves at 796.52 SIM)
A mountaineering classic, this is the true story of two men's near fatal ascent of the 21,000 foot Siula Grande peak in the Peruvian Andes. An extraordinary and controversial tale of survival, and a page-turning read.
Tennis Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
A 1937 classic about four children who set out to follow in the footsteps of their father, once a top class tennis player. Competition between them appears gentle and good-natured by today's standards, and the emphasis is on making the most of the talents you have.
See the full list at http://www.sla.org.uk/nyr-booklist-august08.php.
