Billy the Kid [electronic resource]
Morpurgo, Michael2014
eBook
Discover the beautiful stories Michael Morpurgo, author of Warhorse and the nation's favourite storyteller. Billy was a champion soccer star, playing for Chelsea in the 1930s. But that was before war broke out... Billy the Kid is told through the voice of an 80 year old man, who looks back on his life as Chelsea's champion striker until the outbreak of war in 1939 and on through his subsequent life. Billy joins Chelsea as a football apprentice, rises through the reserves to become a real champion. His passion for football sees him through the war years – even as a prisoner of war he organises a friendly against the Italians – but, having been injured by a mine he cannot play for Chelsea on his return to England. Billy turns to vagrancy and alcohol and for years he wanders up and down the country. He re-settles in London in a derelict house and is befriended by a family who move him to a shed in their garden. He, in turn, helps their son with his football who in his turn becomes a Chelsea player. Billy becomes a Chelsea Pensioner and his 80th birthday is celebrated when Chelsea play at home. A novel for both children and adults which deals with some difficult issues. Michael Morpurgo's storytelling is superb and this will be a welcome follow up to the previous Morpurgo/Foreman collaboration – Farm Boy.
Main title:
Billy the Kid [electronic resource] / Michael Morpurgo
Author:
Morpurgo, Michael, AuthorForeman, Michael, Illustrator
Work:
Imprint:
[Place of publication not identified] : HarperCollins Publishers, 2014
Collation:
1 online resource (1 text file)
Audience:
Reading grade level: 3-4
Biography/History:
Michael Morpurgo OBE is one of Britain's best loved writers for children, with sales of over 35 million copies. He has written over 150 books, has served as Children's Laureate, and has won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize, the Writers Guild Award, the Whitbread Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award. With his wife, Clare, he is the co-founder of Farms for City Children. Michael was knighted in 2018 for services to literature and charity.
ISBN:
9780007374199
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
357705