A heartwarming read

The rhythm of this story will keep children captivated from beginning to end - a lovely story to read aloud

I read this book over and over again because I loved it so much!!

Both stories... deal with the hard graft of training... Entertaining reads for soccer fans aged seven and upwards.

a great idea to get football-mad boys and girls reading and enjoyable enough to welcome others into the world of the beautiful game

A great idea to get football-mad boys and girls reading, and enjoyable enough to welcome others into the world of the beautiful game.

This has the little wolf being good and trying very hard to be bad but just can't do it! He tries to convert the bad wolf! Does he succeed? Let your child decide

'Startling and provocative - guaranteed to help young readers see events in a different way from the cultural and historical norm with which they have grown up...   Blackman is known for her tightly plotted, fast moving fiction...  with its powerful theme of racial injustice, Noughts & Crosses engages the reader at a greater depth and in a more demanding way than any of Blackman's previous work. I read it in one sitting, reluctant to put it down, and so, I'm sure, will many young readers'

'A book which will linger in the mind long after it has been read and which will challenge children to think again and again about the cliches and stereotypes with which they are presented.... a novel that will challenge and engage people from l3 up'

"A stimulating and provocative plot line that often leaves the reader chilled to the bone... Noughts and Crosses is written with the passion of an author who has a personal, chilling vision of the past, present and future.  Blackman cuts to the bone, turning the preconceived ideas of racial prejudice upside down, ensuring tht her point is well and truly made in a deeply disturbing and totally absorbing novel with a shocking climax that packs an unforgettable punch."

'A gritty read for older children...  A times this is a beautiful love story; at other times it is a harrowing and moral tale.  Narrating believably through the voices of two teenagers, Malorie Blackman has written an incredible novel that is as heart-rending as it is provocative.  I had to read it all in one sitting, and I challenge any reader not to do the same'

'Juggles a flawlessly paced thriller involving terrorist kidnapping and the Romeo and Juliet romance between a politician's daughter (a 'Cross') and a poor white boy (a 'Nought')'

'...a bruising tome and her most ambitious novel to date.  An author who has worked hard not to be identified too closely with any particular genre, she has built a complex and challenging novel around an alternative version of apartheid.' 
 

'A sad, bleak, brutal novel that promotes empathy and understanding of the history of civil rights as it inverts truths about racial injustice. It shows the destructive and dehumanising effect of constant denigration and abuse, and the desperation it gives rise to.  It demonstrates, too, that in a divided society, both sides are guilty of perpetuating hatred and hurting each other. But this is also a novel about love, and inspires the reader to wish for a world that is not divided by colour or class'

These books grip you from start to finish, so much so that I completed the first title in one sitting... The way theviewpoints are juggled between the main characters development, and helps build suspense. A rollercoaster ride of emotions, this is a thrilling read- five stars!