Daring Delly: Country vs City by Matthew 'Delly' Dellavedova

Illus. by Nathalie Ortega. Scholastic Australia, 2020. ISBN: 9781743832011. 144pp.
Highly recommended for Sports-interested readers aged 7-10. In the Daring Delly books we are introduced to a young Matthew Dellavedova. 'Delly' is now an accomplished NBA player in the USA, and a member of the Australian Boomers basketball team, so has considerable recognition factor in the basketball world. This book highlights the story of the young 'Delly' in his country junior team as they hone their skills and challenge themselves against a feted city basketball team with significantly more resources. This is a charming story of the need to work together and the drive to succeed in a young basketball player and his fellow team-mates. The mixed-gender team practises hard after a last-minute loss to develop their defensive skills and to improve their game skills. It highlights that losses can provide good opportunities to learn. And maybe success will come after practice when everyone is working together . . . even your local country community.
This is a charming sports-themed story and will definitely be enjoyed by young readers who love basketball. With naive cartoon-like illustrations (that also describe basketball terms in the text) this is a book that is easily read, but very enjoyable. With a short biography of Matthew Dellavedova at the end of the narrative and a double page Q and A, readers will also be introduced to the adult 'Delly' as well.
Themes: Basketball; Teamwork; Practise and determination
Carolyn Hull