Brinsly's Dream

This writer has done as much as anyone else to make books for a multicultural readership more than just trendy tokenism: she keeps a rattling good story strongly in the foreground. This one tells of a West Indian boy's efforts to keep his London-based football team together and lead them to triumph in the festival trophy. It's teeming with the rivalry, tension and enthusiasm which goes with the game and there's the banter and camaraderie of the seven to nines which only such a super writer can truthfully evoke. For me, one of the best of the year.