Alfie Jones and a change of fortune is the first book by David Fuller and is aimed at kids aged eight to eleven, particularly football mad boys.  Alfie Jones is in fact a football mad boy himself and plays every week for the Kingsway Colts with his best friends. He loves the game but recently things at the club have changed. The elderly coach was taken ill and replaced by the father of another boy, Jasper, who is also Alfie’s arch rival and a nasty bully.  The old coach used to be fair, the new coach seems to think his son is perfect and everyone else on the team is useless. Alfie has found himself sitting on the substitutes bench for match after match and is thinking of leaving his beloved team.

On a visit to a fairground something happens to make Alfie change his mind. A mysterious fortune teller appears and tells him that if he stays with the Colts he will one day realise his dreams to become a professional footballer. Alfie is not sure how this will happen if he stays on the substitutes bench but he decides to give it a go. His first objective is to actually get a game.

The book is engaging and pulls you into the world of children’s football. The enthusiasm and hopes of the children is wonderfully portrayed and the descriptions of the matches make you feel like you are on the sidelines cheering on. The characters are thoroughly believable, Alfie is small but plucky and determined and you are very much on his side. His best friend Billy is supportive and on his side while Jasper and his dad are just plain nasty. The fortune teller Madame Zola adds a touch of mystery and magic, along with a few wind chimes. You also get insights into how the parents can struggle to take the children to matches due to the commitments of their other children and how they realise things are not fair but do not want to mention it to the coach.

Although I am not a kid or particularly football mad I found the book engrossing and wanted to know if Alfie managed to realise his dream. I loved the determination of Alfie, even though he was not getting a game he was going to practice hard and learn new skills rather than give up. This is a brilliant example for children today who often want everything handed to them on a plate. My son has picked up this book to read now and he is already enjoying it. As  with many boys these days it can be difficult to get them to read a book, but this one has all the right ingredients to appeal to reluctant readers.

This is the promised to be the first book in a series and I am really looking forward to find out what Alfie gets up to next!

For more information: http://www.alfie-jones.co.uk/

The book is available from Amazon  RRP £5.00

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