Diary of a Soccer Star

Diary of a... #1

by Shamini Flint, Shamini Flint

Marcus is a math whiz who is not good at sport. His dad is a self-help author who thinks Marcus can achieve anything he sets his mind to. with hilarious results.

Genres: Football, Childrens

90 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Shamini Flint lives in Singapore with her husband and two children. She began her career in law in Malaysia and also worked at an international law firm in Singapore. She travelled extensively around Asia for her work, before resigning to be a stay-at-home mum, writer, part-time lecturer and environmental activist, all in an effort to make up for her 'evil' past as a corporate lawyer!

Shamini writes children's books with cultural and environmental themes including Jungle Blues and Turtle takes a Trip as well as the 'Sasha' series of children's books. She also writes crime fiction featuring the rotund Singaporean policeman, Inspector Singh. Singh travels around Asia stumbling over corpses and sampling the food ...

Reviews

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marcus Atkinson is nine years old and loves Maths and playing video games but his dad wants him to join soccer team at his school. Marcus joins the team on his dad's insistence but isn't thrilled as he doesn't enjoy physical games. When he scores a goal with his bottom accidentally, he is mortified but his dad insists practicing for soccer even more.

Marcus's dad wrote a motivational book and he quotes from the book to Marcus all the time too. He tells Marcus to write down his goals and Marcus starts keeping a diary on the daily occurrences. Eventually Marcus figures out that soccer's angles are pretty much like the Maths' angles and he ends up enjoying soccer too.

This reminded me of Diary of a Wimpy kid which I had enjoyed and I also enjoyed this. It was a funny and sweet story. I also enjoyed the sketches.

4 stars

[Lucy Schröter Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book my youngest son (at the time 7 years old) read by himself (and voluntarily!) from beginning to end. It is a funny, diary-style story of a young boy who is not very good at sports but his father keeps insisting that he tries. With lots of cartoon style pictures, it is a very easy and entertaining read, perfect for young readers but funny and interesting enough for older readers to enjoy too.

My three boys are now 13, 11 and 9 years old and, having met Shamini Flint at her visit to their school a few years ago, they still eagerly await each new book in the "Diary of ... " series, and everybody wants to read it first.

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 4 out of 5]

9 yr old Marcus Atkinson doesn't like sport. He loves maths and computer games. But Marcus' dad has other ideas and decides Marcus should play soccer.
What results is a hilarious tale of disaster on the field. But maybe his love of maths can come in handy....

This is the 1st in the series of Marcus Atkinson Diaries. Cricket, Golf, Swimming, Track and Field and other sports follow. They can be read on their own or in order to learn more about Marcus and his trials with family and sport.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute idea, but not very well-translated

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

cute, very clever and a great book for a new reader

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik heb dit boek in het Nederlands gelezen en vond het gewoon leuk.

[Tanner Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable read

[Kaiden · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a good book and it was funny.

THANKS, your student

[Josephine Burks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and funny.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marcus is nine years old and not much of an athlete, but his dad is determined to change that. His dad is also a great believer in keeping a diary to help him achieve his goals. He soon finds it is also a great place to write down the stories of his utter humiliation attempting to play soccer.
An obvious choice for fans of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. However, this is an Australian import so some of the humor and cultural references might not be fully understand by young readers here in the U.S. Yet there is universal appeal in the simple yet entertaining illustrations.

[Nova · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOL funny; a book aimed at children 7 to 12. Marcus' father is determined that Marcus needs to join a soccer team. Although good at math, he is useless at sport. When Marcus finally makes the connection between math and soccer, his contribution to the final takes a dramatic turn and the team wins. This book is written diary style with lots of little pictures and speech bubbles; perfect for the reluctant reader.

[Riverina Regional Library]

Members of Riverina Regional Library reserve your copy now

[Destiny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully well written book, o thoroughly enjoyed. A great book for boys who find no joy inn reading :D

[Finn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book love it
But very short