How to Make the World Cup and Survive Grade Five by Carla Fitzgerald

How to Make the World Cup and Survive Grade Five is the newest of Carla Fitzgerald's Survive Grade Five books, funny junior fiction about kids taking on jobs far too big for them. Each one stands alone, so this is a fine place to start.

Eleven-year-old Ronni is a professional athlete, at watching sport. Then she and her best friend Kai get secretly recruited to coach the Australian women's soccer team through their World Cup qualifiers, and it turns out coaching is a lot harder from the bench than from the couch. She is running training on the sly, dodging suspicious players, copping it from online critics (her own dad included), and falling out with Kai over tactics. With the team's World Cup hopes slipping, Ronni has to decide whether to stay safe or get in the game.

Fast, funny sports fiction for readers around 9 to 12, and a good one for footy-mad kids who would rather watch than read.