Paying the Penalty

Academy footballer Jackson Mbemba has a lot going on. When he stands up to a gang leader on the estate where his family lives, it seems his day just couldn't get harder. But his football team, Stanford FC, still need to qualify for the final of the Cathay Cup. Will Jackson's split focus mean there's a penalty to pay?

An aspirational series that follows two footballers, Callum and Jackson, throught their first prestigious international pre-season tournament. It features relatable teen characters from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds and is set in the highly pressurised world of professional football. Perfect for readers who love an action-driven plot as well as committed football fans, these books have plenty of drama happening both and off the pitch.

The titles in this series of Hi-Lo books for students aged between 10 and 16 years include books for reading ages 9–10 years and utilise a range of dyslexia-friendly features to support pupils' reading.  Making the Team are printed on off-white paper and incorporate an easy-to-read font and text separated into bite-sized chunks, along with carefully considered letter and paragraph spacing that can reduce visual stress. While these books have instantly appealing characters and gripping storylines, the language and sentence structure are intentionally written so that students who are reading behind their chronological age can succeed in reading them.