Goalden Girl [Paperback]

Tracey Morait (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2007

Gemma Sutherland isn't happy. A year after the death of her mother, her dad has married Shelley, whose daughter, Portia, is a spoilt brat. As if that wasn't enough they've moved house and Gemma has to go to Naylorsfield Comp where they don't let girls play football like they do at her old school. Frustrated with her new life, Gemma rebels, shocks her dad by becoming a Goth and vows to drive Shelley and Portia away. She also starts a campaign to introduce girls football at school. Mr Cassidy, her PE teacher, lends his support and the other girls become interested, but Tyrone Collins, Shelley's big headed nephew and the star of Naylorsfield's First Eleven, will do anything to prevent the girls from training or playing in fixtures. Meanwhile, there's a mystery surrounding Shelley and Mr Cassidy, and Gemma sees her chance of getting rid of Shelley for good. About 50,000 words in length, 'Goalden Girl' is suitable for readers age 10+.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Lulu.com (December 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847997589
• ISBN-13: 978-1847997586
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,547,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tracey Morait was born in Liverpool, England, in 1964, where she lived up until 1990 when she moved to Bristol in order to work as a librarian. There she met Keith Mitchell, and was married in 1993. They've been married for seventeen years but have no children.

Tracey writes novels for children and young adults between the ages of nine and sixteen. 'Goalden Girl' was published in 2007 and is about Gemma's quest to start a football team for girls at her new school. 'Abbie's Rival' was published in 2008 and tells the story of Abbie's jealousy of her pen pal's relationship with the student teacher she secretly loves. Tracey gets most of her ideas from events which have happened in her life and which are of particular interest to her. In 2000 Tracey was diagnosed with epilepsy, and this has inspired her to write 'Epiworld', a futuristic tale about Travis's seizures controlling his destiny, published in June 2010. As a huge fan of Liverpool Football Club, she plans to write more books about football. All of Tracey's novels are set in the United Kingdom.

Tracey works as a contract librarian, a casual health care assistant, and, because she's in a permanent homesick state, goes home to Liverpool as often as she can.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read!, July 31, 2011

By 

Carol "Carol" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Goalden Girl (Kindle Edition)

The author has written a fast moving book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
This is the first time I have read a book about football! What attracted me to it was the fact that it is about girl's football. Tracey M certainly knows all about the game.
The characters are very well developed, and for all her faults I fell in love with Gemma, a real girl with all the angst of her generation.
IMO a must read.

5.0 out of 5 stars No Frills - Direct - Excellent!, July 23, 2011

By 

Mr. J. M. Haines (Merseyside) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Goalden Girl (Kindle Edition)

This Kindle title popped up randomly, and on a whim I bought it. I wasn't disappointed, far from it.

Goalden Girl is a refreshing no frills offering from writer Tracy Morait. It is written in the first person (which is hard to do well - this is done very well), and is about a teenage girl - Gemma Sutherland. Gemma has no affected airs and graces, tells it like it is, yet she has cock-eyed dignity and integrity because of these traits rather than despite. Oh, and she is, although not quite a Tom Boy - football mad.

Although football (footy / soccer) is the anchor of this tale, it is not THE tale if you know what I mean; anything with even a touch of grit is always really about life itself: families, friends, enemies, family who are enemies, and friends who become enemies and vice versa and all changeable points in-between for all these aspects. But, Gemma is a highly skilled footy player who shines at the sport at one school, but then gets shunted to another, and, you've guessed it, they not only do not have girls' football at the new school because of supposed lack of demand, it is not allowed / actively frowned upon - at first.

Ok, how to provide worthwhile feedback without introducing spoilers to any degree : let's just say that footy, school friends and enemies and family tensions all intertwine. Tracy Morait handles these tie ups very well indeed with a direct, pacy delivery and a believable plot. It's realistic without straying into profane dialogue (the real / core readership here is young teens and so Tracy has correctly and sensibly held back) but nor is it Enidesque, so no golly gosh in sight, no lashings of ginger beer to be consumed, and the central character goes to the Bog not the bathroom.

Gemma is also mature, wise, and sensible and brave when she really has to be, belying her at least occasional semi-gothy outlook, and we see her act and benefit from this in one or two dangerous situations for others.

The story's sort-of-denouement as it were, and am sure we all gladly allow the writer this shift to farce, acts for me like a nod to the endings of the old Saint Trinian's films: flour and egg bombs and if there weren't any cries of 'Come on, girls!' there should have been!

I read this book in around 4 sittings, with only coffee breaks in between, so, without knowing the official category, it seems like a novella, certainly more than a short story, and it works well in this read-in-a-day format. As already said, I think, at least, that the target audience is teens, but it is interesting and fun for all ages, I can vouch for that, I'm 52 and enjoyed it tremendously. So much so, I hope we see more of footy-mad Gemma Sutherland. (Maybe there is more; am I off to check? You bet!)

Well done, Tracy Morait.