Author(s): Jonny Zucker

Fiction - middle

Nat has grown up travelling around the world with his Dad. He's played football everywhere they've lived and honed his skills on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Now they are settling back at home in England. Then at a 'community' day at his favourite football team, Hatton Rovers, currently struggling at the bottom of the Premiership, Nat's talent is spotted by the club's scout. To his and his father's amazement, he finds himself talking to the manager about a place on the first team squad. There is just the little detail of his age - he's big for 13 but surely they can't get away with him posing as a 16-year-old, the minimum age for a professional player? But the club's veteran striker takes an immediate dislike to Nat and warns him off trying to get a place on the team. Nat's suspicions are aroused and soon he begins to think there is something more to Hatton Rovers' poor performance, and a local reporter begins to have suspicions about Nat. What seems like every boy's dream is quickly confronted by the tough reality of the world of professional football in this superbly exciting thriller.