The Miracle Goal starring Troy, Adam, Joel and Scott Selwood by Tony Wilson

The Selwood Boys bk 2. ABC Books, 2016. ISBN 9780733335464
(Age: 7+) Tony Wilson's series The Selwood Boys is perfect for the football fans and younger readers who enjoy sporting stories based on real life characters AFL football players. In an easy to read format, filled with family fun, footy tips and messages of acceptance and inclusion The Miracle Goal is another great junior novel to add to the classroom and library.
Set in 1997 Joel Selwood is in Grade 4 at Bendigo Catholic Primary School. His football skills are evident already and he is chosen as captain for lunchtime footy. Fish - Charlie Fishburne is the other captain and it is serious business when their classmates line up to be chosen. Joel is surprised when Ray a tiny, short kid from his class asks for a turn on the team.
When Mr. Cunningham the Year 4 teacher pairs up Joel with Ray on a spacecraft project on Hale-Bop the comet, Joel comes to understand why his classmate is different. Meanwhile the twins Adam and Troy who attend separate high schools, continue to be mischievous pranksters. In Year 7 at the Catholic College, Adam and Fiona Leigh trade pranks, mandarin peel in Adam's footy boots, and honey on Fiona's bike seats. When Deputy Principal Fleming catches Adam with the honey jar in hand, both pranksters are given Friday after-school detention. That is the same night that Adam must attend football training where the selectors are choosing players for the Bendigo Junior Football League. With Troy out with an ankle injury, he volunteers to go to detention and Adam plays in the Friday game. There is more twin trickery, a comet sighting, an exciting fourth quarter goal by an unlikely team player and glimpses of family life before mobile phones and the internet.
With the focus on the Selwood brothers and their early years of playing junior football, Tony Wilson has written a fun series just right for sports fans.
Rhyllis Bignell