Soccer Squad: Starting Eleven

Description: The local youth club are putting an under-elevens squad together - and Dal, Chris, Abs and Jason are determined to be picked.They know they're the best players in their school - but what if that isn't good enough and they don't make the team? Dal knows he'd be gutted if his mates made it and he didn't . . . Then once the team is picked, they have to do the business on the pitch - go out and win! And their coach has a couple of surprise new players to help the team . . . Review: "An action-packed new football series" * The Bookseller * "One of a series of short, sharp and fast stories with football to the fore" * The School Librarian * Author Biography: Bali Rai has now written eight young adult novels for Random House Children's Books. His first, (un)arranged marriage, created a huge amount of interest and won many awards including the Angus Book Award and the Leicester Book of the Year. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Brandford Boase first novel award. Rani and Sukh and The Whisper were both shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize. Bali also writes the hugly popular Soccer Squad series for younger readers. He was born in Leicester, where he still lives, writing full-time and visiting schools to talk about his books. www.balirai.co.uk