The Academy

 

2/3/25

 

Dear soccer players,

 

            Have you ever wanted to have a book about soccer, but it’s way too boring and not exciting? Well, look no further, as The Academy, by TZ Laton, is perfect for you.  This book is a journal of a soccer player named Leo Doyle, who lives in Middleton, Ohio. When Leo is playing a game in the YMCA league, a premier league scout comes to watch his game; it was a complete coincidence as the scout was in town to see his sister's son, who was on the opposing team. When the scout comes to Leo’s home to invite him to the London Dragon's month long academy tryouts, he is starstruck and wants to go more than anything else. Laton has won lots of awards, including the Morning Calm medal, which is given to the most popular English book in South Korea.

Leo’s had a rough past. His very own mother died due to cancer, and the last thing she gave him was a lizard, making him extra special. Additionally, Leo’s father doesn’t have lots of money and still has to pay a student loan for his wife. Leo’s aunt, Janice, offers to buy him a plane ticket to London, and on the plane he meets Tig, a winger for the Dragon’s U21 squad. This book does a good job of making the reader think. For example, when they sort all the players into squads, Monitors, Gilas, Iguanas, and Komodo’s, four of the most dangerous lizards on the planet, but not dragons. This is interesting as his own lizard, Messi, is also a type of lizard. Leo and Messi seem to have a deep connection with each other, as Leo talks to Messi and Messi responds with gestures. Messi additionally foreshadows important events in the story, like when Leo didn’t want to go to the camp at first because it was too much money, but Messi becomes angry and Leo listens to him, which ends up working out.

I think the theme of this book is to never give up, no matter the circumstances. In this book we see Leo trying out for the London Dragons, even though he is on a YMCA team. Throughout the book, we see people doubting him. For example, his roommate, Robbie says “Leo, if you even make the World Cup-which is the last stage of the tryouts-, I’ll eat my shirt.” And Leo responds by saying “Better steal chocolate sauce from the cafeteria, cotton doesn’t taste very good.” I thought this interaction was funny as it was serious. We see Leo’s humorous personality as well as his nervousness because on the inside, he was also doubting himse. We do see Leo making the World Cup but unfortunately we don’t see Robbie eat his shirt, which would be hilarious. 

The million dollar question: Does Leo make the team or not? He scored the winning goal in the World Cup finals, and he thought he was guaranteed a spot in the final 11, but the directors couldn’t find a position for him, so they let him go. Throughout the camp, Leo’s coach, Samantha, has been helping him through his struggles of not having formal training and after practice they do “Night Sessions” to help him get better because of his lack of formal training. After coming home to Middleton, he is thinking that he will never go pro,  but a scout who saw him play in the World Cup final was impressed, and offered him a spot on the Lewisham Knights, a fierce rival of the Dragons.

As a soccer player myself, I can confirm that this book is full of action on and off the field. The first book is just the tip of the iceberg, and there will be 8 books planned in the series following Leo’s adventures. The Academy book 2, The Journey Continues, brings arguably even more action and exciting adventures to the series as Leo has to deal with a terrifying coach, and is trying to earn a place on the Starting 11 for the U14 squad.

      Leo’s adventures aren’t fantasy, they can happen to anyone at any time as long as your playing with your heart. Throughout books  1-4-which are the only books I’ve read so far- Leo has to deal with so many problems I thought he was going to explode, physically and mentally, as the Youth Premier League is a immense challenge for young players, but for Leo it wasn’t a problem, as he never gave up on his dreams and gave it his 110% on the pitch.

Sincerely,

Brandon Lei