This would be a good read for a young child who has a particular interest in football. Unfortunately, I do not so I believe that I made a mistake picking up this book. However it did have some important lessons within and I will recommend it to people.

I loved the potential impact of this book, the discussion that could be had around the story I thought I was going to read but as I started reading I felt disconnected, there was nothing to pull me in, I didn't get the feeling that I had to keep reading, in fact a number of times I had to reread what I'd just read in order to try and process what the author was trying to get across. The sway it was written had me perplexed and often confused as to what was happening. A shame, as I thought it was going to be fabulous.

Jump! is a middle grade novel about an 11-year-old football (soccer if you're Canadian like me) player named Robbie who sustains numerous bone fractures and is told he can never play the sport he loves again. With some dedication to training and time spent learning about the history of the Celtic Football Club and some of their most legendary players, Robbie learns to never lose hope and that with dedication and determination, even the smallest players can go on to be the most successful athletes.
As a Canadian who knows literally nothing about the Celtic FC, I learned a whole lot about this beloved team. I love that even though Robbie has lots of challenges and a long recovery he does not give up and follows his dreams. I also think it is really neat how the author was able to tie things together using an Elderly man teaching Robbie about a famous Celtic player. It is also a nice message about the positives of learning about history and culture, as well as the skills and social connections that comes with visiting seniors in your community.

The content of the story was very age appropriate for this target audience. There was some mild swearing and mention of someone being drunk, but otherwise nothing parents or teachers should be concerned about. The chapters vary in length but are broken up nicely and there are some illustrations to help readers imagine what is happening in the story; a support or strategy that is still often used by readers in this age group. I would recommend this book to children in the age 9-13 range, especially those with an interest in football, and those who have prior knowledge or a connection to Scotland. As far as the transferability to readers outside of Europe, I will note that I do think some of my younger students may struggle with some of the dialect differences in Scottish-English, for example cannae is definitely not a common phrase in North America.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!