Book Description
Best friends Shay and Frankie, and their team AC United, are back for another football season, another year older, and eager for a win… The duo soon realise that nothing ever stays the same, and change is a part of life whether they like it or not – both on and off the pitch. With new team members, the threat of losing their precious home turf, and changes afoot in their family lives too, can the boys work together to stay on track… and keep winning? And, of course, who will be crowned Baller Boy this season?
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Baller Boys VS The Bulldozers' by Venessa Taylor.
Read and reviewed for NetGalley, Literally PR, Venessa Taylor and Hashtag Press.
Publication date 4th May 2023.
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the second book in the 'Baller Boys' series
This novel consists of 36 chapters. The chapters are medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonist is Shay . The benefits of third person perspective are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
This is a lovely read for young children, teenagers and adults alike. Amazon's reading age recommendation is from 7 to 10 years old and my 10 year old son enjoyed reading it and I enjoyed reading it to him. Although this is the second book in the series I had would have had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader. However, my son is looking forward to going back and reading the first book in this series. Your child does not to be a football or even a sport lover to enjoy reading or listening to this lovely story which is filled with great illustrations throughout to help you and your child picture the characters and everything that is going on. Shay and Frankie realises that not everything stays the same and that as life goes on changes have to happen which includes new team members, changes in their family lives along with the threat of losing their home turf. When their football club and field is put up for sale to build houses Shay, Frankie and their friends try to come up with ways to stop it happening. There are lovely examples of team work, encouragement, dedication, commitment, team spirit and camaraderie weaved throughout this great storyline along with prejudice, personal and health issues which Venessa does a fantastic job bringing into the book in such a way suitable for younger readers. Venessa has done a fantastic job writing an intriguing, fun and easy storyline while giving out positive messages that will get young children thinking about and talking to their friends about also. It is filled with a great mix of characters each with their own unique personalities and some lovely friendships along with some good old fashioned team spirit!! The characters and the storyline are realistic which helps to bring everything to life as you are turning the pages. I normally only read a few chapters to my son but we were enjoying the storyline that much we ended up reading it in one sitting in the end!!
⚽⚽ Overall a lovely children's book about friendship, teamwork and football perfect for children who love football, sport or just a lovely read!! ⚽⚽⚽
Genres covered in this book include Sports Fiction for Young Adults, Children's Books on Sports & the Outdoors, Literature & Fiction for Children and Children's Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of parents looking for an enjoyable read for their children.
171 pages.
This book is just £2.99 to purchase and £6.50 in paperback via Amazon at time of review which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 4 /5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio
Venessa Taylor is the author behind new junior reader series, All Cultures United: Baller Boys
Venessa Taylor brings two decades of experience as an inner-city primary school teacher and assistant headteacher to the creation of the Baller Boys series.
Aimed at encouraging young boys to find pleasure in reading, the football-themed stories are written with young readers in mind. Born and raised in London, Venessa continues her legacy and passion as a literacy leader through her creative writing.
One of her proudest career achievements was successfully raising the standards of reading across KS2, with a focus on reluctant readers and improving boy’s engagement in reading for pleasure.
Venessa researched and identified what students would respond best to in terms of content, characters and setting. She soon realised that what the boys wanted to read about was not readily available, so took the challenge upon herself to inspire and encourage more young people–boys in particular-to read.
Dream Job:Teacher
Back Up Job:Writer / Author
Best Friends:Emma and Katherine
Future Plans:Retire to the Caribbean
Venessa wrote the Baller Boys series to empower young readers, to reflect the diversity football brings in a community, and showcase different families, lives and challenges.
Venessa continues to be inspired daily by her grandsons. The stories are dedicated to her son-in-law, ‘Coach Reece’, who died suddenly in 2017 - Reece Darcheville and his wife (Venessa’s daughter) Shenna, were an integral part of the development of the story ideas, plot lines and characters.
With her family’s input and insight from the children she has taught over the years, Venessa is proud to have crafted an authentic, original, inclusive series that she hopes all young readers will enjoy–in and out of school!
Venessa has three daughters - Shenna, Mari, Raia-Sunshine and two grandsons - Shay and Rayne
With Venessa's family input and insight from children she has taught over the years, Venessa is proud to have crafted an authentic, original, inclusive series that she hopes all young readers will enjoy–in and out of school!
Sadly, following blood tests in 2016 Venessa was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. She was told she would need a stem cell transplant to improve her chance of survival. Venessa is however in remission, despite having never found a donor.
In November 2017 Venessa was medically retired from teaching.
Venessa’s heritage is Afro Caribbean and her donor will most likely come from the same background.
This can be particularly difficult due to the lack of donors from Black, Asian, Minority Ethnicity.
Venessa is an ambassador for various leukaemia and cancer charities.
You could be a match for Venessa or anyone else in need of a blood stem cell donation.
Social Media Links
Purchase Links
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1913835197/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1684166429&sr=8-1
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