Legends' Lair

by Joe O'Brien

Overview

Charlie Stubbs has one passion in life – playing football. When his family moved from Dublin to Manchester it was hard, but at least he was close to his favourite team. Manchester United. Now twelve, Charlie’s been in top form all season for the Salford Devils and a scout from Manchester United has been keeping a close eye on him! With his beloved grandfather coming to visit, everything is looking great ...

But then tragedy strikes and Charlie’s life turns upside down. A hurried move back to Dublin, his family dealing with a deep loss – and his football career stalled.

Then Charlie discovers that his grandfather was a great soccer player. He hears about The Legends' Lair and he soon sets his sights on organising one more tournament on the legendary football ground. But what old rivalries and buried tensions will he open?

It’s all to play for in LEGENDS’ LAIR………

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847178268
Publisher:	Irish American Book Company
Publication date:	08/20/2016
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Joe O'Brien lives in Ballyfermot in Dublin with his wife and children. He is the author of nine books featuring Alfie Green, a boy who can talk to plants. For older readers he has written three books about Danny Wilde and his Littlestown Crokes GAA team, Legends' Lair (about Charlie Stubbs and his dreams of becoming a soccer player) and one fantasy novel, Beyond the Cherry Tree. He has appeared on RTE's The Den, TV3's Ireland AM and many radio shows. He regularly holds readings in bookshops and libraries around the country.

Editorial Reviews

01/01/2017
Gr 5–8—Charlie Stubbs, who lives in England, is the superstar player of his local under-12 soccer team. He and his father are great friends and are united by their love for the sport. When his grandfather dies unexpectedly, Charlie and his family move back to Dublin. There, along with having to find a new team, he learns that years ago his grandfather was a superstar on the pitch, too. To honor his grandfather, Charlie devises a plan to organize a special game to play on the long-forgotten field called Legends' Lair. Many Irish words, idioms, and slang terms are used throughout, which may impede some U.S. readers. Likewise, those who know little about soccer may be lost in the various game-play descriptions, but Charlie's interactions with family and friends are universal. His family members are very supportive of his desire to immerse himself in soccer, and his closest friends are the ones on his teams. VERDICT Consider this for libraries where readers are as passionate about soccer as the protagonist in the book.—Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Avondale, LA

School Library Journal

★ 2016-12-06
O'Brien conjures an old Irish soccer pitch as the setting to settle an old, sentimental feud. Although Charlie Stubbs' family is about as tight as they come, there is friction between Charlie's dad and his granddad. The Stubbses come from Dublin originally and now live in England, but circumstances conspire for them to return to Dublin to work in the family shop. The shop harbors some surprises, including a secret room containing a bag full of Granddad's trophies and a prize antique ball signed by a great Irish footballer. The ball is a significant player in the story, and so are the birth and nurturing of friendships as well as the strange twists and turns of family. But what O'Brien captures so well is the aura of the game. He handles with aplomb the sheer fun of playing a game with grace, yet when he describes the now-decrepit field on which his granddad played—"the mossy and weedy Lair, with its rusted goal posts at each end," the "patches of worn paint that once lined the legendary pitch"—he gets at the very roots of the game. O'Brien doesn't avoid the bumps in the road but invests the story with a lightness that suggests not pursuing daunting projects is more burdensome than marching straight into them. A joyful approach to sports—"Yiz are playing a stormer out there"—and a salute to the importance of understanding history. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews