Review by Aroosa
The story is based in the present time, and is about a boy named Adi, who is 17 and German. Adi goes to Scotland in an attempt to find a man named Edgar Kail. This man was a retired footballer who knew Adi’s grandfather very well. Adi goes to Edgar Kail’s house and explains to him that he never met his own grandfather, who worked as a bomb sweeper during the war. He also gives Edgar’s former footballer badge back to him. This entire book is about the beauty of friendship during the hardest of times and how this can help many during war.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books where the theme changes throughout; anyone and everyone will have a strong emotional reaction to this book. It is quite interesting, at times it can be very upsetting, and it overall has a great storyline.

Review by Olly
Adi is a boy on a mission in a foreign land. A mission to find the retired football player, Edgar Kail, and to return a football badge to him. Adi learns about his grandfather [Adolf]'s past and a relationship that never ended.

I really loved this book. I thought that it has a balance between war and football. I love the way we get to see the memories of Edgar and the relationship between Edgar and Adolf is unbelievable.

I think this book is for 9-12-year-olds. If you like football or flashback stories then you should read this book. If any of you want to read it I would say you should. I learned so much about the time in the war and how people still had strong relationships even though they are miles apart.

Rating: 5/5

Review by Arafat 
I really enjoyed this book because it tells an important and fun story. Adolf’s grandfather gave Adi’s dad a badge then his dad gave it to him. So Adi tries to find out where the badge came from. I learnt that in the 1940s there was no referee in a football match so Edgar says it was bad because if someone gets injured they wouldn’t know who had done it, also there was no one to check the goals. I would give it 3/5 stars as it was long and sometimes I did not understand the plot.

Review by Ruhan
I really like how this book describes Edgar’s bond/feelings about the war, Adolf and how he dealt with it. Because of this at times I felt like I was Edgar having the same feelings and thoughts as him, e.g. Edgar’s worry for Adolf’s safety. At lots of emotional times I even felt sympathy for Edgar. I also liked how Adi spoke like how I would imagine adult Adolf Jager would like when Adi gave his persuasive and heart-warming reason on why Edgar should keep both badges, and even at times I felt like Adi was Adolf. One of my favourite things was how Edgar changed during the story, because at the beginning Edgar was a grumpy old man but near to the end Edgar became a kind, heart-warming, empathetic and sharing old man.

Review by Edgar
The story is set in dual timelines: 1939 and 1989. The main characters are two football players. One is English and another is German. The English football player, Edgar, plays for Dulwich Hamlet, while the German player, Adolf, plays for Altona 93. The story is of an unbreakable friendship that never breaks even during the war. Also, their loyalty to their clubs is amazing. Even after being offered much more money by other more famous clubs, they still stay with their small clubs. Though, they do both end up playing for their countries at one point. They were not professional football players, as they both had other jobs.

I personally enjoyed this book, even though it is not the usual genre I read. It helped me to understand the historical period. I am not a big football fan, but I understand the power of football and how it can bring people together, even from different countries and different teams. At the heart of this book is the story of friendship and loyalty, the main message of the book is that there are no real winners in any war. I think that this book is a worthy contender for the main prize in the Young Quills Competition!