ACHUKA Book of the Day 2 Nov 2020

The story of how a boy from Manchester used his passion and his talent to steer himself on a path to greatness. This fictionalized biography is one of a dozen new titles in Ransom’s Tales from the Pitch series. 

Each of the books in this series is prefaced  by the words, “Some of the events described in this book are based upon the author’s imagination and are probably not entirely accurate representations of what actually happened.” Fair play; that holds true for even the most scholarly and highly-researched biographies.

This is a wonderful series from a publisher who aims to produce books that are non-intimidating and don’t look as if they are for struggling readers. “In short,” the publicity sheet says, “we’ve made sure they tread the line of being tailored to our readers’ needs, while also looking like cool, fresh, normal books.”

They’ve succeeded with this series. Harry Coninx, a football fanatic and sports data analyst, has produced a set of 120-page chapter books that will have children developing a reading habit in no time. The books are superbly designed, with striking cover illustrations by Ben Farr, that give each one a collectible, football card appeal.
Follow Ben Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benfarr_illustration/

This title, which may already be temporarily unavailable, such has been the media attention the footballer has recently received, follows Rashford’s career from playing recreation ground football for Fletcher Moss Rangers to getting signed for Manchester United’s football academy at the age of seven, through his goal-scoring professional football debut right up to a game played in July this year under Covid restrictions in an empty stadium. As well as descriptions of action on the pitch, we get insights into Marcus’s relationship with his brother, and with manager Jose Mourinho.

Waterstones
Amazon
direct from publisher