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Extra Time
Introduces us to a marauding fluffy mascot, a wise-as-an-owl landlady and a WAG called Terrine, in an irresistible story of how one boy helps stressed-out top footballers find the fun in a kickabout again, with help from his fearsome agent (and little sister), Bridie.
224 pages, Paperback
First published July 24, 2013
14 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Morris Gleitzman
120 books974 followersMorris began his writing career as a screenwriter, and wrote his first children's novel in 1985. His brilliantly comic style has endeared him to children and adults alike, and he is now one of Australia's most successful authors, both internationally and at home. He was born in England in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969 so he could escape from school and become a Very Famous Writer.
Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.
Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.
He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.
But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.
All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.
Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.
Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.
He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.
But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.
All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 29, 2024
A family is living with the trauma of having lost 2 children in a car accident. The eldest child is very gifted at soccer but has pins in his legs (he was also in the accident). The youngest child hero-worships and tries to organise him.
The soccer kid gets spotted by overseas talent scouts who want him for marketing. The kids get thrown into the world of professional sport and the narrative becomes critical of the overcompetitive view of sports but also typically larger than life and with very strange humour. I liked the know-it-all landlady. I read her as autistic coded.
Overall this is good like all Gleizman's writing is good but it's more of the same rather than anything new. Still if I still had soccer obsessed kids in my life I would definitely buy it for them (as I did with Boy Overboard which was saying a lot more and with even more heart)
The soccer kid gets spotted by overseas talent scouts who want him for marketing. The kids get thrown into the world of professional sport and the narrative becomes critical of the overcompetitive view of sports but also typically larger than life and with very strange humour. I liked the know-it-all landlady. I read her as autistic coded.
Overall this is good like all Gleizman's writing is good but it's more of the same rather than anything new. Still if I still had soccer obsessed kids in my life I would definitely buy it for them (as I did with Boy Overboard which was saying a lot more and with even more heart)
July 14, 2024
I quite enjoyed this book and I think my kids will too - being as soccer obsessed as they are. A lovely book about not forgetting where you came from, friendship and family, and realising your dreams.
October 25, 2013
Not bad.
July 24, 2017
it is an interesting story line because he was abit weard
August 15, 2013
Matt is the soccer star, and his sister Bridie his manager. Matt doesn’t let a busted leg or bullies interfere in his game, same way that Bridie doesn’t let her asthma stop her from looking out for her big brother. This family knows to stick together, after a tragedy pulled them tight and has their mum always fretting, and Uncle Cliff keeping a watchful eye on things.
Bridie and Matt are due some good luck in their lives … but when it comes their way and dreams come true, both are surprised at the many and varied ways that things aren’t made better.
‘Extra Time’ is the new novel from superb Australian children’s author, Morris Gleitzman.
I was lucky enough to have a phone interview with Mr Gleitzman recently, for an upcoming Kill Your Darlings blog. And in-between asking him some very serious questions about a very important topic, I was also able to fan-girl and throw in some Qs about ‘Extra Time’ and his next book … so this is a review/interview of sorts.
There’s a moment in ‘Extra Time’ when Bridie dreams of her and Matt being suffocated by safety;
I have the bad dream again.
The one I have a lot.
Me playing for Australia in a World Cup soccer final. Nil-nil with two minutes to go. I've got the ball. Matt wants me to pass to him.
But I can’t kick.
There’s bubble wrap round my legs. And my arms. And my chest.
Matt’s not much better off. His soccer shirt and shorts are made of cotton wool. Which is growing like fungus.
It’s over his head and feet now. He’s being smothered in cotton wool. The more I struggle to kick the ball, the tighter the bubble wrap gets.
It’s a prescient dream for the many ways that Matt and Bridie have been made overly cautious in their lives, after a family tragedy … but also revealing of Morris Gleitzman as a successful children’s author, who often writes the sort of tough and admirably daring characters that kids love, and parents would prefer came bubble-wrapped.
‘Extra Time’ is about soccer and realizing dreams are not always as easy you’d imagine them to be. At the back of the book, Gleitzman acknowledges the Premier League families for sharing their experience and friendship. I asked him about their involvement as part of his research, and discovered the level of detail that went into writing ‘Extra Time’;
"I was over in the UK last year, doing some research for the book. And though it’s not easy – because it’s quite a closed and self-protected world – I finally was able to meet three families who have boys training in different Premier League clubs in their academy system. And they weren’t able to go on the record with me . . . because they had a sense from our conversation that I was interested in some of the aspects of this whole process that maybe the official football authorities wouldn’t necessarily want to have broadcast. And you can probably pick up from the book what some of those things are.
So; it formed the core of my research because I got a lot of information, and not only did they take me along with their family to training matches, but I also had a sense of how aspects affected other areas. The impact it had on their families, how important it was to them. And most importantly, I got the sense that for the boys involved (they ranged in age from about 12 to 16) just what a huge focus in their life it is.
I learnt, for example, that some families were approached by a big club when their son was four-years-old. Even the notion that kids play organized sport at four, I find that a little bit gobsmacking, but certainly the experts and scouts are trained to be able to spot that one-in-a-thousand sort of ability even in a four-year-old. And the clubs aren’t officially allowed to make any formal deal until the boy’s about nine, but such is the competition now to find the world’s best players very young. Because of course it’s not just a question of getting the best players for your team, it’s also big money."
This is a gorgeous book (as a Morris Gleitzman books always tends to be); easily 5/5 that kids (sports fanatics and couch potatoes) will love, as will boys and girls (young and old).
It always happens that after reading the latest Morris Gleitzman book, I’m always desperate for the next one. So I asked Mr Gleitzman about his current work-in-progress, and the bad news is; we’ll have to wait until June 2014. The good news is; ‘Loyal Creatures’ sounds heartbreaking and amazing;
"It’s a book I’m developing from a performance piece I wrote last year. I did some work with the National Theatre in London. I wrote a piece that they’ve been using in some workshops, as part of their ‘Warhorse’ stage production. They approached me because they wanted a piece that would look at some aspect of horses in WWI, from an Australian point of view. And I did some research, and hit upon something that absolutely fascinated me which was to discover that we sent about 150,000 horses over in WWI, basically to Egypt and Palestine in the Australian light horse. Many of them were the personal horses owned by the young men who volunteered. And of those, only one horse came back.
Many were sold to the Egyptian army, British army. Many were sold to local horse dealers, but that was very unpopular amongst the troopers because they saw that the horse dealers didn’t treat the horses very well in most cases. And the rest were shot. And the thing that grabbed me, as the ‘story hook’, was that although the army denies this, quite a number of the troopers who had formed an incredibly close bond with their horse over those four years, in many cases were absolutely convinced that they owed their life to their horse. Rather than have the horse shot in the head, in an anonymous way, in an army bureaucratic shooting, they took their individual horses out to the desert, said goodbye, and shot them themselves. My story is called ‘Loyal Creatures’, and it’s about a sixteen-year-old volunteer, and he and his horse go off to war."
Bridie and Matt are due some good luck in their lives … but when it comes their way and dreams come true, both are surprised at the many and varied ways that things aren’t made better.
‘Extra Time’ is the new novel from superb Australian children’s author, Morris Gleitzman.
I was lucky enough to have a phone interview with Mr Gleitzman recently, for an upcoming Kill Your Darlings blog. And in-between asking him some very serious questions about a very important topic, I was also able to fan-girl and throw in some Qs about ‘Extra Time’ and his next book … so this is a review/interview of sorts.
There’s a moment in ‘Extra Time’ when Bridie dreams of her and Matt being suffocated by safety;
I have the bad dream again.
The one I have a lot.
Me playing for Australia in a World Cup soccer final. Nil-nil with two minutes to go. I've got the ball. Matt wants me to pass to him.
But I can’t kick.
There’s bubble wrap round my legs. And my arms. And my chest.
Matt’s not much better off. His soccer shirt and shorts are made of cotton wool. Which is growing like fungus.
It’s over his head and feet now. He’s being smothered in cotton wool. The more I struggle to kick the ball, the tighter the bubble wrap gets.
It’s a prescient dream for the many ways that Matt and Bridie have been made overly cautious in their lives, after a family tragedy … but also revealing of Morris Gleitzman as a successful children’s author, who often writes the sort of tough and admirably daring characters that kids love, and parents would prefer came bubble-wrapped.
‘Extra Time’ is about soccer and realizing dreams are not always as easy you’d imagine them to be. At the back of the book, Gleitzman acknowledges the Premier League families for sharing their experience and friendship. I asked him about their involvement as part of his research, and discovered the level of detail that went into writing ‘Extra Time’;
"I was over in the UK last year, doing some research for the book. And though it’s not easy – because it’s quite a closed and self-protected world – I finally was able to meet three families who have boys training in different Premier League clubs in their academy system. And they weren’t able to go on the record with me . . . because they had a sense from our conversation that I was interested in some of the aspects of this whole process that maybe the official football authorities wouldn’t necessarily want to have broadcast. And you can probably pick up from the book what some of those things are.
So; it formed the core of my research because I got a lot of information, and not only did they take me along with their family to training matches, but I also had a sense of how aspects affected other areas. The impact it had on their families, how important it was to them. And most importantly, I got the sense that for the boys involved (they ranged in age from about 12 to 16) just what a huge focus in their life it is.
I learnt, for example, that some families were approached by a big club when their son was four-years-old. Even the notion that kids play organized sport at four, I find that a little bit gobsmacking, but certainly the experts and scouts are trained to be able to spot that one-in-a-thousand sort of ability even in a four-year-old. And the clubs aren’t officially allowed to make any formal deal until the boy’s about nine, but such is the competition now to find the world’s best players very young. Because of course it’s not just a question of getting the best players for your team, it’s also big money."
This is a gorgeous book (as a Morris Gleitzman books always tends to be); easily 5/5 that kids (sports fanatics and couch potatoes) will love, as will boys and girls (young and old).
It always happens that after reading the latest Morris Gleitzman book, I’m always desperate for the next one. So I asked Mr Gleitzman about his current work-in-progress, and the bad news is; we’ll have to wait until June 2014. The good news is; ‘Loyal Creatures’ sounds heartbreaking and amazing;
"It’s a book I’m developing from a performance piece I wrote last year. I did some work with the National Theatre in London. I wrote a piece that they’ve been using in some workshops, as part of their ‘Warhorse’ stage production. They approached me because they wanted a piece that would look at some aspect of horses in WWI, from an Australian point of view. And I did some research, and hit upon something that absolutely fascinated me which was to discover that we sent about 150,000 horses over in WWI, basically to Egypt and Palestine in the Australian light horse. Many of them were the personal horses owned by the young men who volunteered. And of those, only one horse came back.
Many were sold to the Egyptian army, British army. Many were sold to local horse dealers, but that was very unpopular amongst the troopers because they saw that the horse dealers didn’t treat the horses very well in most cases. And the rest were shot. And the thing that grabbed me, as the ‘story hook’, was that although the army denies this, quite a number of the troopers who had formed an incredibly close bond with their horse over those four years, in many cases were absolutely convinced that they owed their life to their horse. Rather than have the horse shot in the head, in an anonymous way, in an army bureaucratic shooting, they took their individual horses out to the desert, said goodbye, and shot them themselves. My story is called ‘Loyal Creatures’, and it’s about a sixteen-year-old volunteer, and he and his horse go off to war."
May 26, 2014
*This review was written for a school assignment.*
As a regular winner of children’s book awards, and being inducted into KOALA’s legends list, it is no wonder that Morris Gleitzman’s books are treasures. His latest story, Extra Time is shortlisted in the Fiction for Younger Readers category of the 2014 KOALA awards. This story spans the Australian outback and English cities as we find our soccer-loving main character and her superstar brother from rural Australia be given the chance to travel to one of England’s top soccer (sorry, football) clubs.
Gleitzman’s story is well-paced and written from the perspective of ten year old Bridie Sutherland. With her, we encounter a variety of children and adults actions that are sometimes confusing but often provide a source of humour with Gleitzman’s deft touch. The ‘star’ of the book is Bridie’s older brother, 14 year old Matt, and by having key characters of these ages and each gender, the book provides easy access for all types of readers to engage with the story.
The book also softly presents appropriate themes relating to attitudes in competitive sport and emerging independence of young people. Well-written, excellent pacing and providing a good chuckle, this story is a must-read for 2014 and is well-deserving of its place on the KOALA awards shortlist.
As a regular winner of children’s book awards, and being inducted into KOALA’s legends list, it is no wonder that Morris Gleitzman’s books are treasures. His latest story, Extra Time is shortlisted in the Fiction for Younger Readers category of the 2014 KOALA awards. This story spans the Australian outback and English cities as we find our soccer-loving main character and her superstar brother from rural Australia be given the chance to travel to one of England’s top soccer (sorry, football) clubs.
Gleitzman’s story is well-paced and written from the perspective of ten year old Bridie Sutherland. With her, we encounter a variety of children and adults actions that are sometimes confusing but often provide a source of humour with Gleitzman’s deft touch. The ‘star’ of the book is Bridie’s older brother, 14 year old Matt, and by having key characters of these ages and each gender, the book provides easy access for all types of readers to engage with the story.
The book also softly presents appropriate themes relating to attitudes in competitive sport and emerging independence of young people. Well-written, excellent pacing and providing a good chuckle, this story is a must-read for 2014 and is well-deserving of its place on the KOALA awards shortlist.
November 26, 2014
I chose this book, first of all because I love football. But the main reason is that the story in "Extra Time" reminds me of the story of my favourite player, Steven Gerarrd.
"Extra Time" is about two children who are obsessed with football. Their names are Matt and Bridge. They live with their parents in rural Australia.
Their parents are worried about Matt and Bridge going out to play football because they had two other children, twin boys, who died in a car accident.
One day Matt plays with the football ball outside in the neighbourhood, dribbles and showing his skills. Everyone in the neighbourhood was impressed by him.
A football agent was so impressed by Matt and invited him to play real football.
Matt accepts the challenge and flies to London with his sister Bridge. Bridge becomes Matt's manager.
In the rest of the story we can see the fun of football and how Matt enjoys playing and starts to make money from playing.
I recommend this book to everyone I know and especially to people who love football.
"Extra Time" is about two children who are obsessed with football. Their names are Matt and Bridge. They live with their parents in rural Australia.
Their parents are worried about Matt and Bridge going out to play football because they had two other children, twin boys, who died in a car accident.
One day Matt plays with the football ball outside in the neighbourhood, dribbles and showing his skills. Everyone in the neighbourhood was impressed by him.
A football agent was so impressed by Matt and invited him to play real football.
Matt accepts the challenge and flies to London with his sister Bridge. Bridge becomes Matt's manager.
In the rest of the story we can see the fun of football and how Matt enjoys playing and starts to make money from playing.
I recommend this book to everyone I know and especially to people who love football.
Read
March 28, 2016Outback kid Matt Sutherland is a soccer genius. His little sister and manager, Bridie, is determined to put him in the world spotlight - and succeeds. With their Uncle Cliff, they end up on trial for a week in London with other teens trying out for the English Premier League. But a week can be a very long time in the cut throat world of Premier League soccer.With all of Gleitzman's trademark twists and turns, laugh out loud moments and lumps in the throat, this is a heart-warming read for the younger ones and those young at heart.
October 27, 2015
Another solid book from Morris Gleitzman, although for the first time I am staying to think the formula is wearing thin. His main character/narrator is just a little too naive, a little too young for her years etc. The story telling is predictable up to a point, but it is still enjoyable and I can think of half a dozen boys in my class who would lap it up because it deals with professional football (Soccer).
September 17, 2013
Extra Time is his latest book, in which Gleitzman reverts back to his humorous style, (after his more intense real-life ‘Once’ series), looking into the world of soccer. Young readers will enjoy this one!
See longer review at: http://crewsreviews.edublogs.org/2013...
See longer review at: http://crewsreviews.edublogs.org/2013...
January 7, 2014
extra time is a about a 14 year old boy named Matt. Matt has pins in legs but it doesn't stop him from playing soccer. he is a great footballer he is given a chance to train with one of the biggest clubs in England. but the club players all are harsh.so Matt turns in to a harsh player. his uncle and his sister try to turn him back into smooth player.
March 6, 2014
Extra Time by Morris Gleitzman was an exciting and funny story about a kid and his manager sister who want to play in the International Soccer League. It puts all of they tumbles and turns into chapters of laughter and excitement. I would recommend this book to any big soccer fans or people who like funny books such as those by Morris Gleitzman.
November 1, 2016
Two Aussies who are brother and sister. They set out to England find their dreams. One is a 10 year old manager called Bridie and the other, a 14 year old football star called Matt. Matt is experiencing rough play in the team. Will he follow their poor attitudes ??...
This book is recommended for football fans aged between 10-14. It is very well written and I really enjoyed it.
This book is recommended for football fans aged between 10-14. It is very well written and I really enjoyed it.
September 29, 2013
This book has a similar tone to Too small to fail, rather than his Once, Then, Now, After series. A quick and easy read with a loveable cast of characters. There are poignant moments peppered throughout, as well as some laugh-out-loud moments.
June 22, 2014
Typical Gleitzman story - good yet real innocent children coming across the not so pleasant side of adults, in this case the world of professional soccer. Not as heart breaking as his Once series but for me, much better than Loyal Creatures where the main character is older and not so innocent
January 30, 2015
A great book to appeal to young boys interested in soccer who may need some motivation to read. It's a great page turner and as always Gleitzman manages to address some deep life struggles in a way that young readers can understand. As a grade 5/6 teacher I absolutely loved this book!
September 29, 2013
Check out my review on www.creativekidstales.com.au
February 9, 2014
Great book to read for our book club. I am really looking forward to meet the author in 2 weeks during the Perth Writers Festival
March 30, 2014
Would be a good read for boys years 4-6 who are in to sports or soccer. Girls may also like the lead female character. The sports focus wasn't exactly my cup of tea however.
April 12, 2014
Ticks the boxes. Solid story and characters. Nice perspective from sister. Good humour. Also about friendship and keeping the joy in what you do.
July 24, 2015
I thought that the book was very entertaining because you got to see the story of when he started in Australia to the prems.
July 24, 2015
I recommend this book to people who like soccer
February 16, 2016
Cute quick story for kids.
October 17, 2016
It is a really intreaging book and makes me want to keep reading it
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews