Leonard sits on the substitutes’ bench, and is never asked to play . . . and it’s not as if the Ducie High football team is any good: they get beaten, time after time. Then everything changes. After a game near a nuclear power plant, a weird energy passes through Leonard, and that night in bed he is visited by zombies . . .The ghostly players from the winning 1966 England World Cup team tell him that if he follows their instructions, not only will he get off the bench – but Ducie High XI will start to take control. Leonard obeys, and the team’s prospects surge. But what is the price of the zombies’ involvement? How high will that price be – and what pound of living flesh will they demand? ZOMBIE XI is a story about football, friendship, family and cross-cultural teen relationships. Its humour, drama – and occasional shivers – send this book straight to the back of the net.
Pete Kalu is a novelist, playwright and poet. His work has been widely published and performed within the UK. Prizes include BBC Playwrights Award, the Liverpool Kodak Film Pitch Award, The Voice/Jamaica Information Service Marcus Garvey Scholarship Award and BBC/Contact Theatre Dangerous Comedy Award. Other titles in the STRIKER series by Pete Kalu are THE SILENT STRIKER and BEING ME. Pete lives in Manchester, UK.
“The nuggets of history scattered through the book made me pick up a football encyclopaedia to follow up what I read about the players.
There is a streak of humour that winds its way through the story, from a hypnotism assisted attempt to stop smoking to poking fun at some of the more dubious facets of the modern game; the scene where the coach took the team to drama class for acting lessons made me snort out loud!” Matt Imrie, Teen Librarian
