ood news! Accidental Friends has been nominated for the YoungMinds Book Award 2008. Fingers crossed it makes the shortlist in September.

My abridged version of Francis Hodgson Burnett's wonderful 'The Secret Garden' is out now. Published by Oxford Treetops Classics it's perfect for 6-8 year old independent readers and children up to 11 who might find the original too challenging.

For fans of 'There's Only one Danny Ogle' now on its 7th print run there's also OUP's Football Mad. For a cheap-as-chips £6.99 you can have Danny Ogle sandwiched between Alan MacDonald's 'Worst Team in the World' and 'Dream Team' as well as John Goodwin's 'Nice One, Sam.'

I've been having a great time in schools recently. First I went to see my commissioned play 'Buddies' being read by Y6 pupils at The Park Primary School in Doncaster. The play, about Polish children settling into British schools, has proved popular! Thanks go to Hazel Gibson for her drive and enthusiasm in getting this project off the ground.

I loved what Hazel told me one of the boys had said. When asked what they'd learned from 'Buddies' he'd replied: 'that some things are more important than football.'

What a breakthrough!

am dreaming football at the moment. My series about a girls' football team is well underway now and I have recently completed the fourth book of twelve. The series – aimed at 8-11 year olds like my After School Club books – will feature one 'team' member at a time and tell her story.

The first six books are due to be published by Walker Books in Autumn 2009. While I was at the Park School I got chatting to Vanessa. Vanessa is a keen writer and showed me her fabulous story. In return I asked her if I could take a picture of her because she so looked like one of the characters in my new series!!

Another school visit, to Wakefield this time, and I found another look-a-like! This is Y5 pupil at St Austin's, Olivia, AKA Megan, my goalie!

Hello to everyone at St Austin's. I had a wonderful morning with you. Did you finish your Quest stories with Mr Flood?

Hello, too, to Ryhill J & I School near Wakefield . I was honoured to be asked to open their new library on June 25 th. Congratulations to everyone involved and especially headteacher Mrs Erica Webster after whom the library was named.

I also had a fabulous day in July in two Rotherham Libraries as part of their Book Festival. I met Y4/5 pupils from Laughton Primary and Y4/5 pupils from St Joseph's Catholic JMI at Dinnington Library and Y6 pupils from Manor School at Maltby Library. I loved Maltby Library's closed off children's area with its ranch-like entrance. Very cosy!

Lucky pupils at Ryhill School in their brand new library

Speaking of libraries, have you heard the one about the councillor in Doncaster who asked why libraries need new books – or librarians for that matter. Apparently there's no point wasting money on things like that when Tesco's sell books cheaper and you can download information from the Internet. Oh really? So supermarkets stock the same range of books as libraries? I don't think so.

The average shelf stacker has the same range of expertise as a librarian? Not in a million years. As for downloading from the Net; that's fine if you have access to it. Fine if you have a high powered printer. Fine if you have the patience to sift through the search engine that throws up 1,300, 000 results for 'Henry VIII' or whatever. Fine if you have high level reading skills and can differentiate between the good stuff and the rubbish. Nightmare if you haven't.

At the time of writing, Doncaster's librarians are planning a protest against this philistine attitude on July 12th . I'm going to join them.

Books, books, books...

I have recently read 'Nevermore' by Linda Newbery and found it charming. When Tizzie's mother gets a job as a cook at 'Roven Mere' Tizzie is thrust into a strange new world. A huge house waiting, waiting for the master, mistress and their daughter Greta to arrive. Except they never do arrive... Fabulous reading for 8-11s.

I also highly recommend 'A Nest of Vipers' by Catherine Johnson. Set in early eighteenth century London you can almost smell the stench from the streets that Cato Hopkins and his gang roam. It's Oliver Twist with a twist!

'What the Birds See' by Australian writer Sonya Harnett is the sort of book you read with one eye closed because you know something bad, or sad, is going to happen but you can't stop reading because you are hooked. Dark. Poignant. Gripping.

For older readers Kate Cann's 'Leader of the Pack' is spot on. She so gets teenagers! The cover reads: 'contains sex, swearing and rugby' You'd better believe it!

I'm halfway through 'Comrade Jim – the spy who played for Spartak' James Riordan's autobiography. I have met Jim on several occasions. Had I realised what an exciting and intriguing life he'd led I'd have been too overawed to talk to him! It's criminal that one of his best books, Match of Death, is out of print.

Waiting to read Adele Geras' new adult title 'A Hidden Life'. It's bound to be good. It's a Geras.

And finally...

Happy 100th to Huddersfield Town. Have a brilliant season, men. Huddersfield expects…

Until next time,