Musa Okwonga – författare

From the writing team of Ian Wright and Musa Okwonga.Inspired by the story of the superstar striker, Ian Wright.CO-WINNER OF THE CHILDREN'S SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022"A thrilling book ... an uplifting story about triumph againstall odds ... You don't have to be a football fan to love it!"David Walliams"I devoured it … moving, thrilling, disturbing, triumphantand inspiring ... a wonderful achievement." Stephen Fry  Thirteen-year-old Jerome Jackson dreams of becoming aworld-class footballer.But with a difficult home life, Jerome can't see how he'll evermake this dream come true ... until he meets a mentor figure whocan hopefully put him on the right track."The best strikers aren't the most skilful ones. They arethe ones who never give up." Perfect for fans of real-life dramaReaders will love Ian Wright's cameo role in the storyWith phenomenal cover art from Benjamin Wachenje.  "This engaging and uplifting novel, which celebrates friendshipand community, is based on Ian Wright's own childhood experiencesand will appeal to any aspiring sportsperson." Booktrust"An inspiring story that encourages you to dream big and overcomelife's challenges." Trent Alexander-ArnoldIan Wright is one of the UK's all-time leadinggoal scorers. He's lifted the Premier League title, The FA Cup,the European Cup Winners' Cup and won the Premier League goldenboot.Musa Okwonga is an author, poet, journalist andmusician; he is a co-host of the Stadio football podcast.

Be inspired by Football Legend, Raheem Sterling! Discover the inspirational story of this young player's journeyfrom his early life in Jamaica to life as a young immigrant innorth-west London, where his incredible football talent put him onthe road to superstardom. Football Legends: Young readers will love findingout all about the lives of their favourite players in thisgreat new biography series. Packed with footie facts and match statsIncludes Raheem's career highlightsAmazing cover artwork illustrated by Manchester-basedartist, Stanley Chow, whose iconic workhas found worldwide acclaim.

Musa Okwonga – a young Black man who grew up in a predominantly working-class town – was not your typical Eton College student.The experience moulded and challenged him… but also made him wonder why a place that was so good for him also seemed to contribute to the harm being done to the UK. The more he searched, the more evident the connection became between one of Britain’s most prestigious institutions and the genesis of Brexit.Woven throughout this deeply personal and unflinching memoir of Musa’s five years at Eton in the 1990s is a present-day narrative which engages with much wider questions: privilege, the distribution of wealth, the rise of the far right, systemic racism, the ‘boys’ club’ of government and the power of the few to control the fate of the many.One of Them is both an intimate account and a timely exploration of race and class in modern Britain.

"Bloody obvious isn''t it: tell the defenders to route one out to Drogba" "That''s what they''ve been doing all night and look where it''s got them""The final ball has just not been weighted enough; in any case, his touch is too heavy""£120,000 a week and look how little they put themselves about""Players today are mercenaries: in my day they lived and died for their local team. It was a way of life: now it''s just a cheque at the end of the month" blah, blah, blah... Every weekend in pubs and living-rooms all over the country, women and (mainly) men discuss the day''s games and how they could have done better than the cretinous manager. Few people think they can fix their leaking sink better than a plumber or defend their dodgy cousin better than a barrister and yet every Tom, Dick and Harriett is convinced that they can do a better job than their team''s manager. Why is this? In Will You Manage?, Musa Okwonga breaks down the job of football management into its different components and shows exactly what skills the great managers have. He interviews big and little cheeses on the football scene and provides essential tips for Fantasy Football success. As a new season gets underway and managerial heads begin to roll, the reader of Will You Manage? will deservedly have a knowing/sickening smirk on his face.

The narrator arrives in Berlin, a place famed for its hedonism, to find peace and maybe love; only to discover that the problems which have long haunted him have arrived there too, and are more present than ever. As he approaches his fortieth birthday, nearing the age where his father was killed in a brutal revolution, he drifts through this endlessly addictive and sometimes mystical city, through its slow days and bottomless nights, wondering whether he will ever escape the damage left by his father''s death. With the world as a whole more uncertain, as both the far-right and global temperatures rise at frightening speed, he finds himself fighting a fierce inner battle against his turbulent past, for a future free of his fear of failure, of persecution, and of intimacy. In The End, It Was All About Love is a journey of loss and self-acceptance that takes its nameless narrator all the way through bustling Berlin to his roots, a quiet village on the Uganda-Sudan border. It is a bracingly honest story of love, sexuality and spirituality, of racism, dating, and alienation; of fleeing the greatest possible pain, and of the hopeful road home.