So....I've started reading my daughters novels for Year 7 English. Not sure if this is the done thing, as my parents didn't do this for me, but then again they aren't readers. Are their other parents out there that do this?? Surely they are. I don't know if my daughter wants to talk about the books, but IF she does then I have some idea of what is going on. At the moment getting her to answer questions about school is like pulling teeth (unless it is time to go to bed and suddenly she is chatty).Grace Faltrain is a Australian teenager who loves soccer. Ever since her father took her to a game and she saw the school soccer team she has wanted to play. She has pushed and got a position on the boys team and she is good, real good. But thing are not going according to Gracie's plan, shooting goals has become so important to Gracie she has lost touch with the team and they have lost trust in her; she had a disastrous date with Nick a boy she has liked forever; and her Dad has been absent for a long time and it looks like he might not be coming home. Gracie needs to pull something special out of the hat to get her life back on track again.
The book is written from the perspectives of the characters in the book. Gracie; Martin(the soccer captain); Helen (Gracie's Mum); Bill (Gracie's Dad); Nick; Annabelle (Gracie's rival for Nick's affections); Alyce (a classmate); and various soccer team mates. The book has an interesting format where each character's perspective is told on a separate page and sometimes it may only be one line. Sometimes they are speaking to the reader and other times they are responding to another character.
The book is at times humorous but also poignant as Crowley addresses themes of friendship, love, family relationships and self-esteem which are issues that effect teenagers. I'm glad that my daughter is reading this book and hope that she can take on board some of the lessons in the life and times of Gracie Faltrain.
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