The Champ vs the Werewolf Warriorz

Anh Do

Dave Atze

A & U Children’s, 2023

280pp., pbk., RRP $A15.99

9781761065637

Summer loves sport, and there is nothing she would love more than to charge down the field towards an open goal, or soar through the air over the basket. She would love to be part of a team but instead she always seems to be the last one picked, probably because of her lack of co-ordination which even she recognises. Then one day something amazing happens and Summer discovers she is no longer the spectator but the superstar. The purple gloop that covered her and landed her in hospital has turned her life around. However what is magical for Summer is misery for her older brother Carl who goes from being a talented upcoming footballer to being in a wheelchair, and Summer finds herself with a lot more responsibility.

With her new expertise, Summer decides to enter contests to earn money to support her family, but as it turns out, there are far more important things for her to do, starting with sorting out a witch who looks strangely familiar and is causing trouble in her home town while keeping her new powers secret because  a government agency, armed with a robotic minion, begin to take an interest in her. 

In this episode, the third in this series, the Book Witch and her army of Werewolf Warriorz threaten to ruin the Rockstone Autumn Fair, Summer’s powers are put to the test. Will she be able to save the day, and the fair, without revealing her secret identity? 

Written for those on the cusp of being independent readers with lots of support such as larger font and plenty of illustrations, this is a series that will appeal to those who are taking an interest in the plethora of sport available at the moment, particularly that featuring women. But rather than being blessed with super powers to achieve their goals and vanquish their ‘enemies”, they face seemingly interminable  routine and repetition, recovery and resilience setting up the opportunity for a discussion about just what it takes to get to the top.