The football team she forms is also full of amazing characters and I cannot wait to read more from The Dream Team series. I am incredibly thankful to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Children’s UK for my chance to read an ARC of this book and I am excited to continue this series in future. I think they'd love how Jaz sees and reacts to her world, and would find themselves represented in one or more of the characters. Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys. Many young people will also empathise with Jaz when she is often punished for her reactions to another student’s behaviour and even wrongly accused of things that she didn’t do.

Why would six girls, none of whom were football-mad like me, agree to be in a team that didn’t exist yet? Determined to fix everything, she creates her own girl’s football team to be the star her mum always wanted.Jaz Santos isn’t the most graceful dancer and she’s always getting into trouble at school, but the one thing she loves more than anything else is playing football. Now I’ve got a team of seven very different girls and we need to work together, to be taken seriously as footballers. It also shows adults that having honest conversations with your children and reminding them of how proud you are of them, is hugely important for their mental well being and can ease some of the pressures they are placing on themselves. The boys in Jaz’ class were threatened by a girl who is talented at football and many of the teachers had no interest in helping the girls to get funding or even training for their team.

Jaz blames herself for the break up and tries her best to fix her family before eventually realising it isn’t her fault.I am distinctly not a fan of football, so I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy this, but I was so pleased to find that I had an absolutely excellent time meeting Jaz and her friends. The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning ( CEFR).

There is a wonderful light touch to the writing that makes you bounce along with Jaz and will her into succeeding.However, the story didn’t feel especially memorable, the levels of serendipity are overwhelming even for a middle-grade, and the majority of the characters (excluding Jaz herself) were two-dimensional at best. Since Goodreads doesn't allow half stars, I went back and forth for ages trying to decide whether to knock it down to a 3 or boost it up to a 4. It was quite predictable that there would be this one thing the main character is bad at but it's the thing that makes them win the match.

Jaz is a spunky, lovable heroine, who sometimes gets in trouble, but always has the best intentions. By presenting complex concepts like mutual aid and self-organisation in much simpler terms that are relatable to children, Mante highlights the importance of community in a world that attempts to deny women and girls opportunities. This scene highlights the importance of representation in helping young girls dream big and change the ingrained limitations we unconsciously place on ourselves.

A really interesting read about a story of friendship, football and family as well as the problems family’s go through. Not only was the main character's voice hardly that of a 10 years old, but it read like the author had forgotten what it is like to be a child. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online. Jaz’s mum, from Angola, and her father, from Scotland, no longer get on – and when her mum nearly burns the house down, her parents decide it is time for Mum to move out.