Daniel's review:

I enjoyed some parts of the book but other parts were too slow to get to the point or not as exciting as I expected them to be. The events I enjoyed, were mainly when she played football matches with her team during the war or did activities with her friends.

I found Lily the most interesting character due to her desire to be the best female goalkeeper in the world. She had so much perseverance to be world class keeper and would play with the men if she had to.

There wasn’t much information about the war yet there were little bits about how the war affected everyone.

The time set does affect the storyline yet in a good way because it creates a background story alongside Lily’s football career.

In my opinion, the plot is exciting and fun, because I love football and her relationships with her work-friends and dad are always thrilling to read about.

Lily and her dream stand out to me from this book.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy football or like learning about how the war affected life and sport.

Ethan's review:

Lily, heroine of this story, lives with her widowed father who was once a very good footballer. A love of football is something they share, and he has trained her to be a goalie like him. I like her as a character because she breaks the laws of society.

The character I did not like is Jack because he is not that important(at least for me).

The book, plot and most of the other things weren't as interesting as I'd hoped. It was a real shame. That it's a girl playing football which doesn't interest me that much was the problem. I would not recommend this book.

Hansa's review:

I particularly enjoyed this book because it is a history and war-time genre and when I started reading I learnt lots of interesting facts about London in 1917 and about the war that has started. This book is about a girl who lived in the year 1917 and how she lived her life without her mother and played football with her dad. To summarize simply the book is about a girl called Lily Dodd and her friend Amy May decided to get a job in Arsenal but unexpectedly Amy's brother died while fighting so she de-cides to go to France and becomes a nurse and helps the soldiers. Lily is left alone and she goes to the munitions factory to get a job. At job, she saw girls playing football and wasn't brave enough to join them she sat and watched them. After a while, a girl kicked the ball in the wrong direction but Lily got up and caught it so it won't hurt anyone and that is how she was in the team called Rockets. This made Lily really happy as she didn't see girls play-ing proper football with goals and she was really excited that she was in it.

There were some really brilliant parts in the book; for example when Lily decided to disguise as a boy and try to go for a trial for the men's team Tottenham Hotspur and she got a place as a goal-keeper. This my favourite part of the book as no-one noticed that she was a girl. This made Lily really happy and that she could pay the rent and also get some food as well. There are also many parts of the story that she decided to disguise as a boy and follow

her best friend to the London Zoo. I didn't like some parts of the story the parts are when Jack Darling finds out that the person he went out with to the Zoo wasn't Lily it was Amy and then she starts to run away from them. Lily told Jack to go, this part could be changed and Lily could say to Jack she was sorry that she did-n't tell him it was her and they go together to Amy. This is the only bit I didn't like about the book but everything else was excel-lent.

I would recommend this book to anyone aged 8+ or above this would be a good estimation because they would have an idea when this happened and why girls shouldn't play football just like men's do. In my opinion, I think these people would have a good understanding and read the book with no questions. This book can be read by an adult as well because they would know better about 1917 in London and how it was like. 5 stars!

Hollie's review:

The way the Great War was displayed was strongly described. Lily’s character was interestingly put across as she shared her love for football with her dad in such a history-filled. Aspects of this time was incorporated into this novel (working in factories, etc). I would also recommend this book to anyone as it was such a beautifully written piece.

Nathan's review:

Lily is a tall red-haired girl coming of age in the First World War. She is looked after by her dad and her mum is dead. She and her dad have a good relationship and both share the passion they have for football. Lily’s dream is to become a professional goalkeeper like her dad used to be but there was one big obstacle that stopped her… she was a girl.

After her best friend leaves to be a nurse and help the injured soldiers in France, Lily is forced to work in a Munitions factory where she meets other girls who also play football. She is envied by her boss who was also a former professional goalkeeper. Eventually the girls build up a team and start playing against other teams however this is stopped shortly after the war ends and the men start playing football again.

A disaster happens when Lily’s dad gets caught in a bombing attack he therefore loses his sight and depends on lily’s wages for keeping them alive.

Lily is invited to play at a trial for Tottenham but she knows that she wouldn't be picked if they knew she was a female so she cut her hair off and changed her name.

This disguise worked perfectly and she made it to the first team. While playing football she meets the soldier that she wrote messages to in her time at the munition centre. She becomes friends with him but she makes a questionable decision to leave the team. She leaves Tottenham and joins the girls’ team she used to play for (the rockets).

To end the story she reunites with her best friend that came back from France on a break.

I recommend this book because it is an emotional rollercoaster and has many twists. It makes you learn more about how life was during war and what life was like for women in the early 20th century. I liked the character of Lily because she gets involved in so many interesting situations and she tries to exist in a world dominated by men.

Overall I would rate this book as good.

R

Lily and the Rockets is a great book that can inspire young girls and women to play sports such as football more often and to show everyone their talent despite what other people say to them. In my opinion, I found Joe Crawford as the most interesting character because even though his former job was a professional goalkeeper for Spurs, his attitude towards girls playing football confused me quite a lot as he resented the idea of them even kicking a football – he thought they were rubbish. I liked the fact that Jess had scored a great goal against him to prove him wrong for starters as well as Woolwich Arsenal Ladies (Jess and Lily’s team) beating Lyons’ Corner House Ladies 2-1. However, my favourite moment with Crawford was when Lily scored a stupendously brilliant goal even though she was in goal

I did learn from this book was that women were not accepted in football during World War One and the idea was seen as ‘not proper’ or ‘not ladylike’. I think the plot was quite unpredictable and very exciting especially when matches were taking place. This book is truly a phenomenon. I would recommend this book to all, especially girls who want to play football or any other sport and think they can’t do it because of something, or someone tells them not to. A new word I have learned from this book is what the word Arsenal means. It means: A place where weapons and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued.

Rachel's review:

Lily loves football and to her delight, when she works in a munitions (desperate for more workers) she stares with envy at the gang of girls playing football in their own team until she is invited to play and the other girls reveal her amazing talent as goalie (like her father)and from then on Lily was officially part of the Rockets.

Which of the characters did you find the most interesting and why?

I believe that Jack is the most interesting character because at the end I thought he would make the connection about Lily pretending to be something that she was not and thought it quite hilarious the he didn’t.

Which of the characters (if any) didn’t you like and why?

I liked most of the characters but if I was asked to pick out a particular character it would be Amy May since I disliked the way she just walked out on Lily and only wrote weeks later leaving Lily in the dark for information on her wellbeing.

Did you learn anything new about the past from the book?

I learned from the last chapter of the book about the different women football players from history and teams that existed around the time Lily and the Rockets was set.

What made the history of the time it was set in interesting for you?

The fact that made me most eager to read this book is that it is set in world war 1 and I do enjoy learning about what happened away from the fighting with the worried parents, siblings and sweethearts anxiously waiting for news at home.

Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted?

I found the plot very exciting nearly bringing myself to shout at the book when one of the characters does a regretful action like many do near a tv, predicting what will happen next.

What most stands out for you in the book?

The thing that stands out the most is that in history people had to change their identity to be accepted doing what they want and it is different now and I am glad of it.

Did you learn any new words or facts as a result of the story?

I am not entirely certain since when I read a book I take new words for granted and enjoy the book while I’m reading it.

Would you recommend it to others?

I would recommend this book to lots of people because it is an amazing book but I can guarantee anyone who is interested in history or loves football will love this book.