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Rugby Academy
£7.90£8.50 (-7%)
Borderlands First XV have their sights set on becoming the best school rugby team in the world. But while the boys focus on their matches, many of their parents are serving overseas in the armed forces, and everyone is worried as conflict grows in the Central Asian Republic. New pupil Woody is a footballer by nature and must decide if he’s prepared to give rugby his all. Rory feels like he’s losing his focus, distracted by thoughts of his parents in danger. And Owen finds himself a t the centre when conflict breaks out within the team. With so many hurdles to face along the way, how far will they get in the rigorous schools’ tournament?
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Additional information
| Publisher | Barrington Stoke, Combined edition (6 Jun. 2019) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 80 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1781128669 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1781128664 |
| Reading age | 9 years and up |
| Dimensions | 13 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm |
by C. Carter
Rugby Academy is the collected edition of 3 fast-paced short novels, each under 100 double-spaced pages long. The stories follow the interlinked stories of a trio of rugby-mad best friends at Borderlands school, as they experience the ups, downs, trials and tribulations of life as part of the First XV.
In ‘Combat Zone’, Woody must deal with fitting in at a new school while worrying about his fighter-pilot father. In ‘Surface to Air’, Rory battles with internal anxieties and external threats from the Russian team, and in ‘Deadlocked’, Owen confronts his reading difficulties while daring to step up to the plate and become a leader.
Tom Palmer has a lot of experience in writing about sports in an accessible format for those children who may not naturally turn to a book, and it clearly shows here. Deftly judged to balance plot, character and weightier themes while keeping word count low and interest levels high, Rugby Academy is a brilliant addition to the genre.
As a 42-year-old non-sporty mum, I am definitely NOT Rugby Academy’s target audience, but this book will be a massive hit with any young rugby fans who, like Owen, do not think of themselves as readers but want to keep the adrenaline of the match going long after they leave the pitch.
Thanks to Tom for the review copy for my school library.