A World Away
Sarah Best
Paperback
(Troubador Publishing Ltd, Feb. 20, 2019)
Two kids from Australia, Lacho and Zarz, have moved half-way around the world to live in England. Everything here is different. The weather is colder, there’s not a whole lot of space and they don’t know a single person. But when the children move into their new home at Bishops Gardens, they discover something extraordinary. A football… with a secret. Lacho and Zarz find out that the football can fly. And what’s more – when they kick it, they can fly too. Lacho loves playing with the magic ball and quickly falls in love with the sport. He practices his football skills at every chance he gets and soon, he is part of Fulham Football Club’s Junior squad. Lacho wants to know more about the ball and its secret. Its magic powers don’t work for everyone and adults can’t seem to even see the magic at play. He discovers the ball has been in Bishops Gardens ever since football legend, Johnny Haynes, kicked it out of Craven Cottage, the home stadium for Fulham FC, 50 years ago. So will the magic be able to help Lacho’s beloved team make it to the grand final? Soon, the football is taking the 7 year-old from Australia on a journey he can’t quite believe. Throw in a dog that passes wind when he barks and a cranky old guy who hates anything fun; and this book will keep your little ones entertained chapter after chapter. A World Away is a magical story with a lesson for us all.