Having grown up in the heart of Leicester's Sikh community, Bali Rai went to London to study Politics. After managing a bar and thinking about becoming a journalist, he now devotes all his time to writing and visiting schools to talk about his books. He is the author of a number of titles for the Random House Children's list, several of which have won awards or been shortlisted; including Unarranged Marriage, which won four regional awards and was shortlisted for five others!The Whisper was shortlisted for the prestigious BookTrust Teenage Prize. Soccer Squad is his first younger book for the RHCB lists.
Rai is as familiar with junior soccer as he is with speech patterns of the age group, so his dialogue always rings true and will have younger readers hooked on his stories ... His soccer stories are certain to score highly with the pre-teen age group Leicester Mercury Football is the driving force, of course, but there's also plenty about friendship, about having what it takes and being part of a team. Pacy, bright and breezy -- Phil Hewitt Bognor Regis Observer