Australian Matildas and World Cup superstar Sam Kerr teams up with Aki Fukuoka to bring young readers this fun and inspiring illustrated series about soccer, school, sport, friendship, dealing with bullies and following your dreams.
Sam Kerr is an Aussie rules football fan through and through. But when she's excluded from her team she doesn't know what to do. Netball? No thanks. Chess? Bleugh.
Her best friends Dylan and Indi think she should flip from AFL to soccer – and it doesn't seem so bad at first. The coach is OK. The team seems nice enough …
But with Chelsea the school bully on her case and the pressure of learning new rules weighing her down, will it all be too much? Will Sam give up – or will she make the flip?
'A fun book packed with cool illustrations. It follows themes of family and perseverance that will totes leave you feeling inspired!' Total Girl Sam Kerr is the captain of the Australian women's national soccer team – the Matildas – and a leading goal scorer for Chelsea in the English FA Women's Super League. She burst onto the W-League scene as a fifteen-year-old playing with Perth Glory. In 2016, she played for the Matildas at the Olympics in Brazil, and she was the top goal scorer in the 2017 Tournament of Nations. Since joining Chelsea in 2019, Sam has positioned herself as one of the best female strikers in the world. She was named 2018 Young Australian of the Year. In 2021, Sam became the Matildas all-time top goal scorer at the Tokyo Olympics, and in 2023, helped the Matildas achieve their best-ever result at a Women's World Cup. IG: @samanthakerr20; @samkerrfootball
Fiona Harris is an award-winning author, scriptwriter, and performer with more than twenty years of experience across publishing, television, and theatre. She has written over 40 books, many of them for children. The Embarrassing Confessions of Gracie Sparks is her debut middle grade novel.
Aki Fukuoka was born in the valleys of the alps of central Japan and was raised in the rolling hills of the New Zealand countryside. After spending her childhood exploring nature with her four siblings, Aki moved out to the city of Auckland to learn how to cross roads, manoeuvre between pedestrians and gain her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She is currently living in a little wooden cottage house with her husband, four children and animals and works full time as a freelance illustrator. Aki is most well known for her illustrations for the Billie B Brown series. 'A fun book packed with cool illustrations. It follows themes of family and perseverance that will totes leave you feeling inspired!'
