Michael Strike is captain of both the school soccer and chess teams. He's got his eye on fellow soccer player and overachiever Miriah, the founder of the youth organization War Orphans of the World. Miriah is quick to befriend a new student, Zahir Jamiat, who has recently moved from the Middle East, but Michael sees the newcomer as a rival. When Michael works up to confronting Zahir, he discovers they have more in common that he initially thought.
Corner Kick is a much-needed story of tolerance and friendship.
"Learning to appreciate one victory at a time and believing in fair play are good messages to take from this story."
Corner Kick has a third person narrative from Michael's point of view. In creating Michael, author Bill Swan gave himself a challenge: holding the reader's attention with a somewhat unappealing protagonist... Readers can predict that Michael's attitude will eventually change, but how this change comes about is a nice surprise.Recommended.
"Corner Kick is a book with more than one message. The main messages are the importance of being a team player and the value of volunteering. Racism and prejudice are also touched upon."