This is the sixth instalment from the Alfie Jones series which sees the central character dealing with issues related to football, his friends and school life.

Once again author David Fuller understands the pressures affecting youngsters growing up in a world which seems to be increasingly demanding day-by-day. In a football context Alfie and his friend Billy face the trauma of whether they will be kept on at their respective Academy’s and the implications this can have on young boys whose only dream at that age is to be a professional footballer.

Once boys and girls start to approach the teens, they have to deal with all that this period of change in their life brings, which as David Fuller explores in this book includes the ideas of uncertainty, trust and lack of confidence, about themselves, their friends and indeed their family.

As ever, the author has been able to take serious issues and provide a storyline which seeks to gives readers an idea of the emotional impact in a way they can understand, without being condescending.

What will be interesting to see, is how the teenage Alfie develops and how he copes with his life as the distractions and hormones that kick-in with adolescence, impact on his football, friends and family.

This fifth instalment in the Alfie Jones series finds the central character now aged 12 and starting life at Tideway Secondary School.

As with all the series so far, author David Fuller successfully ensures that each book has a strong storyline in its own right, but also has continuity in terms of backstory and characters such as the magically mysterious Madam Zola and Alfie’s archenemy Jasper Johnson, for those who have read the previous books.

Alfie continues to pursue his dream of being a professional football and in this book is hoping to breakthrough into a professional club’s academy which is the central theme of the story.

In addition, there are other plotlines involving Jasper Johnson and Daisy Saunders, a girl who takes a shine to Alfie.

There is, as ever, more to these books that simply football and the author is able to use Alfie to look at other subjects such as family life, growing-up and friendship.

This is another fast-paced read and will delight Alfie Jones fans new and old.

Previous reviews:

Book one: Alfie Jones and a change of fortune

Book two: Alfie Jones and a test of character

Book three: Alfie Jones and the missing link

Book four: Alfie Jones an uncertain future

The fourth instalment of the Alfie Jones series opens with the central character scanning the table of the Middleton District Youth League Division 2. With three games to go in the season, Alfie’s team, the Kingsway Colts are bottom of the league.

With two of their best players, Billy and Hayden having left to play for the local professional club’s Academy – and others of the current Colts’ squad uncertain about whether they will stay with the club after this season – Alfie is worried that his dream of becoming a professional footballer is seriously under threat.

Those frantic last three games for the Colts’ are packed into 169 pages of another fast paced winner from author David Fuller. The tension lasts to the final page and readers will be hooked as they find out whether the Colts survive the dreaded drop.

What is also great about this book (and indeed the series) is that Fuller once again shows he understands football at this level and is able to translate this into his writing. He also demonstrates that he knows what makes children ‘tick’, so that Alfie, like many lads his age, whilst football-mad, is a boy who does occasionally get annoyed with his mates and can be prone to sulk and fall-out with his siblings.

Can Kingsway avoid relegation? Will Alfie’s dream of playing professional football be kept alive?

Prepare for some twists and turns in another excellent book of the Alfie Jones adventures.

Links to reviews of the first three Alfie Jones books are below:

Book 1: Alfie Jones and a change in future

Book 2: Alfie Jones and a test of character

Book 3: Alfie Jones and the missing link

This is the third instalment in the series following on from, Alfie Jones and a change of fortune and Alfie Jones and a test of character.

It finds Alfie going to watch his first ‘live’ game at Kingsway United. His excitement and enjoyment of the occasion is disturbed though when arch-rival Jasper Johnson appears on the pitch at half-time. Jasper has become part of the Kingsway United Academy team and Alfie is more than curious as to how his nemesis has come to be selected amongst this select group of players.

Alfie sets out to discover how this has happened and the mystery deepens when the fortune teller, Madam Zola, leaves him with a business card. The solving of this puzzle provides the main thread for the book and it is an engaging storyline which not only looks at youth football, but the professional game.

As with the previous two books, author David Fuller uses his background as football coach to provide a story which has fair play, teamwork, honesty and integrity at the heart of it. His use of introducing descriptions of the training drills and game skills is a good little device in getting across to readers these hints and tips in a fun way.

This book will undoubtedly appeal to children interested in football, but has a strong plot and engaging characters that will ensure it will be enjoyed by a wider audience. Once more the combination of mystery, magic and football is another winning one for David Fuller and Alfie Jones.