‘Maxx Rumble: Soccer’ series (Michael Wagner, illus by Terry Denton, Walker Books)

Having crunched, rattled and smashed their way through several sporting seasons with their series ‘Maxx Rumble: Footy’ and ‘Maxx Rumble: Cricket’, Michael Wagner and Terry Denton apply their healthy sense of the ridiculous to the world’s most popular sport. Maxx Rumble’s soccer team, the Stone Valley Saints, faces off against the super-brainy Kreepy Crawlies, the unscrupulous Outhouse Rodents and the fearsome Plankluvin Pirates in a new trilogy perfectly pitched at male readers aged eight and above, especially those who would usually rather have a ball than a book in their hands. Plotting and pacing are the series’ major strengths. Each book takes place over the course of a single game, which gives the story its structure and provides all the opportunities for action and character development. It’s remarkable how many twists, turns, highs and lows Wagner manages to pack in. Maxx’s playfully exaggerated narration elevates the Saints to the status of soccer superheroes—but even their best mid-air bicycle kicks and headers won’t guarantee them victory against pelicans, love spells and armies of pirate parents. No—they’ll need daring, ingenuity and just the right amount of luck, and even then, predictably, they’ll pull it off with mere seconds to spare. A winning formula, well executed.

Samuel Williams is a creative writing graduate and a part-time bookseller at Mostly Books in South Australia

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews