Spine-tingling, spooky ghostly adventures – the past is closer than Nadiya and Seth think …
Seth and Nadiya specialise in solving ghostly hauntings at football venues, which take them to settings including:
- Anglo-Saxon village, Yorkshire
- Roman Amphitheatre, City of London
- Iron Age Celtic hill fort, Cornwall
Book 1 – Killing Ground
Book 2 – Dark Arena
Book 3 – Pitch Invasion
Read Chapter 1 of Killing Ground here
Published by Barrington Stoke
Illustrated by David Shepard
Buy the Books
Signed and dedicated copies are available personalised to order from my local independent children’s bookshop “The Thoughtful Spot” here.
Amazon
Book 1 – Killing Ground
Book 2 – Dark Arena
Book 3 – Pitch Invasion
“plenty of adventure, jeopardy, blood and thunder and mixing it all in with a good dollop of the country’s favourite spectator sport… There are echoes here of Alan Garner and just a hint of the mystery behind Harry Potter – and that should be enough to get anyone reading.” The Letterpress Project
“Great fast paced fiction” Monsters Can Talk
“I recommend Tom Palmer’s books as an essential addition to school libraries.” Review of the full Defenders series in Books for Keeps here
“Tom Palmer’s new series combines football with history in a gripping, fast-paced and action-packed story that’ll have your children wanting to know more with every turn of the page. One that may be enjoyed more by slightly older readers (10+) due to the introduction of more detail, adventure and subject-specific vocabulary, this is a series not to be missed.” https://www.theschoolrun.com/best-childrens-books-about-ancient-rome
And each book ties into a KS2 history theme:
Killing Ground (Vikings & Anglo Saxons)
Dark Arena (Roman Britain)
Pitch Invasion (Iron Age Celts)
“We are currently running a Books 4 Buddies scheme here at Northwood and Defenders is going down a storm with my reluctant readers.” Northwood School
Colouring Sheet
Iron Age / Roman / Anglo Saxons / Vikings colouring sheet to accompany my Defenders series, download here .
History Quizzes
Anglo Saxon/Viking history quiz based on Defenders: Killing Ground here
Roman Britain history quiz based on Defenders: Dark Arena here
Iron Age history quiz based on Defenders: Pitch Invasion here
Posters
Click on the images for downloadable posters:
Haunted by the past … writing tips here
Video 1 – introduction to Killing Ground
Video 2 – Killing Ground & my ancestry DNA testing
Video 3 – Researching Dark Arena
Video 4 -Researching Pitch Invasion part 1
Video 5 – Researching Pitch Invasion part 2
Blog links
2018 Live World Cup Read
Defenders:Russia Dyslexia friendly BIND UP of all 1-22 chapters available here.
Defenders:Russia CERTIFICATE for followers here.
Defenders:Russia Tom Palmer’s Guide To How Books Are Made WORKSHEET & answers here
Reviews
