Academy

Description: "Born and raised in a small town, Leo K. Doyle has never seen the ocean or stepped foot on a plane. But Leo is a star soccer player with big dreams in life. Rock-star, Olympic gold, dragon-slaying dreams. While Leo longs to make the pros one day, he has no idea how to achieve this goal-until a professional scout pays a chance visit to one of Leo's games and extends an invitation to try out for the London Dragons youth squad known as The Academy, a world-famous English Premier League team. Soon Leo is off to a whole new country, embarking on the greatest adventure of his life. The downside? Only eleven players can make the team. Along with the grueling competition, Leo must also face a bully intent on torpedoing his summer, a roomie who doesn't know how to have fun, a terrifying camp director, and most of all, Leo's own lack of formal training and the fear he'll never succeed. By the end of the summer, Leo will become a much better player and forever changed by his experience. But will he be good enough to make the Academy?"--Publisher.

Brief description:

T.Z. LAYTON is the New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning Academy series, which has been optioned for film and sold translation rights around the world. The author writes adult fiction under Layton Green and is also a soccer dad, youth coach, former collegiate player, and lifelong fan of the beautiful game.

Review Quotes: "Nothing is more exciting than finding that book that opens the door for undiscovered readers into the world of stories and personal connection. The Academy by T.Z. Layton is one of those books and deserves to be shared with young sports oriented readers." - Brein Lopez, Children's Book World (Los Angeles, CA)" -- Brein Lopez, Children's Book World (Los Angeles, CA)