Dylan Evans Adolescent Novel- Specky Magee

Specky Magee, written by Felice Arena and Garry Lyon is by far my favourite book as a child/teenager growing up. Specky Magee follows the story of a young, aspiring football player called Simon "Specky" Magee. Although the book is heavily dominated by football and scenarios relating to it, it also contains serious themes as well. One of these is themes is when Specky finds out that he is adopted and goes on to search for his biological father.

The book is fantastically written and can be easily read by children as young as 10. Although due to the stronger themes involved I would suggest not reading it until 13 or so. Specky Magee is a good way to start introducing student's to bigger novels, particularly boys, as football is usually closer to their interests.

It would be hard to use this book inside the classroom as it won't appeal to everyone, however, it could be used as an option in a book report/presentation activity.