Sidelines

Essential - and thrilling - reading for all parents. - KATE MILDENHALL

Sidelines is a riveting novel. It takes our jittery, intensely competitive era and unpicks our self-deceptions until they bleed. - JANE CARO

When a violent brawl erupts at a suburban junior soccer game, some onlookers are shocked. But others saw it coming. Rivalry, parental pressure, coaching bias, inequity, and many other factors have played a part in turning Saturday mornings into a pressure cooker.

Thirteen-year-old Audrey is a talented young football player. But does she want to play for Australia, or does she just want to please her father, Ben, whose own thwarted sporting career looms large in his ambitions for his daughter?

Audrey's mother, Jonica, doesn't know whether to be more concerned about her anxious daughter, her overbearing husband, or the only other girl on the team, Katerina, who is causing trouble on and off the field. And Katerina's mother, Carmen, is so busy looking for opportunities to give Katerina more game time that she fails to notice what is really capturing her daughter's attention.

When Griffin, a naturally gifted player with spectacular skills, arrives, the tension within the team reaches boiling point. But who is going to crack first - the parents or the players?

Sometimes a novel comes along that says what you've been thinking. - MALCOLM KNOX

Will leave you wondering if perhaps winning and losing are the same thing. - GABBIE STROUD

Viggers shines a light on the ways competition can pull us together or drive us apart. - INGA SIMPSON