"Will you please come back and play for the club Aoife?". Aidan asks his twin sister this question every week. Twins, Aoife and Aidan Power, along with their four best friends love playing Gaelic football. They spend most evenings after school playing football in the green in their picturesque rural village of "Droichead Beag". Aoife and Aidan are skilful and fast but when they combine on the same team, "Twin Power" is unleashed and they have an almost telepathic communication on the pitch, leading to some spectacular scores.

But while Aoife loves football, an incident at a match almost two years earlier saw her stop training and playing with her local GAA club, Droichead Beag GAA. Aidan knows what happened, but Aoife refuses to tell her friends. Could it have something to do with their Under 12 counterparts in Gorman GAA, the rival parish team of Droichead Beag, where old rivalries run deep?

And how will Aoife's refusal to play affect their school team when the children's teacher Ms. Kelly, herself a former All- Star football player announces an exciting new school's football competition, "Star Schools GAA"?

Parish rivalries re-surface and threaten to get out of hand as the children of Droichead Beag National School fight tooth and nail to get their hands on the coveted first ever Star Schools Cup.

About the Author
EMMA LARKIN is the author of the 'Izzy's Magical Adventures in Sport' series. She is originally from Cork, but now lives in Kerry with her husband and four children. Lauren O'Neill is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Dublin. Originally from Wexford, she moved to Dublin to study in NCAD and stayed. Her work has appeared across a wide variety of areas from advertising campaigns to storybooks and gallery exhibitions. She has illustrated Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, winning the Children's Books Ireland Merit Award for Illustration, and Blazing a Trail which won the Children's Book of the Year (senior) Irish Book Award in 2018. www.laurenipsum.ie

Reviews

an uplifting and encouraging read ... an empowering narrative for all young sports fans ... readers will pick up plenty of insightful football tips from Aoife and Aidan ... this book promotes the importance of teamwork ... sure to win over any young reader with a passion for sport

-- Inis Magazine

I would give the book 10/10 ... I'd recommend this book be read by both boys and girls between the ages 8 and 13. The story teaches readers that girls can be as good at football as boys are, the importance of having good friends while also showing how important it is for girls to have a role model to look up to. 'Fun, friendship and football' is the theme running through the book. My favourite part about the book was at the end when the final whistle was blown and the players that were once great rivals on and off the field now came to see each other in a different light. I hope that there will be more books from Emma Larkin and that we will find out how Aoife gets on when she starts playing with the new ladies football team that has just been formed in the area. Fiona, 4th Class, Presentation Girls School, Maynooth, Co. Kildare.

-- Seomra Ranga

a lively, fun story

-- Irish Independent

Football fans, wherever in the world they are will want to pick up this new book from O'Brien Press, written by Emma Larkin, this is the story of twins Aoife and Aidan Power and their fantastic footballing partnership ... There are problems to face but there is nothing that some team spirit and a good dose of friendship as well as the support of the family cannot overcome

-- Armadillo Magazine

a win-win for enjoyment and insight ... Larkin brings her knowledge of the game and the social interactions that surround it into play in her first full-length novel for readers aged nine-plus ... The support of friends, family, and team-mates proves a winning combination in the case of Aoife, who comes to understand that unpleasantness directed at her is likely a reaction by those who feel threatened by her football skills. Larkin makes important points here about the 'win at all costs' mentality, going on to explore some of the challenges for girls in being selected for mixed-sex underage teams, before facing the additional hurdle of joining a new ladies' club for their teenage and adult years ... Larkin was initially inspired to write after discovering there was a dearth of GAA stories featuring girls for her daughter Isabelle to read. Now leading the way in filling that void, Larkin ... writes from experience in a voice likely to resonate equally with both boys and girls ... engaging book which is a welcome fictional complement to the publisher's [O'Brien Press] ever-expanding biographical series for children, Great Irish Sports Stars

-- Evening Echo

a great one for kids who love sport!

-- RSVP Magazine

what really stands out about Larkin's two protagonists is how their openness and vulnerability is something that is understood and admired by their peers. A lovely sentiment with an important message for people of all ages and genders. A treat for sports fans, particularly GAA lovers. Recommended for ages nine and up

-- Irish Examiner

fab...a real winner ... Exciting, fun and packed with friendship, young sports-mad readers will love it!

-- Fallen Star Stories

as I play Gaelic football, this was a perfect book for me. I couldn't put it down ... 5 out of 5 - Ruby King, aged 8

-- Ireland's Own

If you are a sporty reader aged 8+ who loves to be active outside, Twin Power: Throw In! by Emma Larkin is an action-packed GAA story that will encourage you to get out and about with friends

-- RTEjr Book Club

a rare example of GAA fiction featuring females

-- Westmeath Examiner

a great story of sibling support as Aoife and Aidan team up in a Gaelic Football final against their parish rivals to win the Star Schools Cup

-- RTEjr Book Club



Book Information
ISBN 9781788492751
Author Emma Larkin
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint O'Brien Press Ltd
Publisher O'Brien Press Ltd
Weight(grams) 181g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 130mm * 14mm