Sophie McKenzie, The Fix, Faber Factory, 1 June 2016, 80pp., $13.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781781125496
Blake and Dan break into the new soccer stadium so they can be the first to score on the pitch. All is great until they are chased by a guard dog and become separated. As he creeps out of hiding, Blake overhears a conversation about money-stealing from the stadium account. He is caught before he escapes and Mr Vilman bribes Blake to match-fix his team’s semi-final. Blake’s family desperately needs the money so he reluctantly agrees. He can’t help himself, though, and plays the winning goal. Outraged, Mr Vilman threatens to hurt Blake’s mother unless Blake fixes the final so that Mr Vilman can bet on it. What else can Blake do but play so badly the match is lost? Or…maybe there’s another way to catch Mr Vilman at his own game.
This book, originally published in 2009 and stamped ‘Super Readable’, is aimed squarely at teens needing accessible literature. The publisher advertises it as having a ‘dyslexia-friendly layout’ and states its reading age as 8. Short sentences, extra spaces between paragraphs and a fast-paced plot do make the story very readable and its content – with plots of blackmail, disadvantaged families and violence – is for an older readership. A short, plot-driven read for those needing just that.
Reviewed by Pam Harvey
