Tennis Shoes by Noel Streatfield

If you read the title and think of shoes, STOP! This book is nothing to do with shoes! You can take it for granted that everyone in this book will be wearing shoes at some point or other but a whole book describing people wearing shoes would be quite boring. No! This book is about tennis! So maybe a better title would be Tennis Racket but this is a good example of not judging a book by its title/ cover.

When I read this book I did not find it as exciting as Noel Streatfields other books, perhaps because tennis is not my thing or maybe because this story isn't as captivating as Noel Streatfields other books but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth reading. The things that happen to Susan, John, David and Nicky are funny, emotional and inspiring, all of which are needed for a believable book.

Susan works hard, John swims, David sings and Nicky doesn't seem to do anything but all of them can play tennis. It all started with a tennis house, not an actual house, a piggybank shaped like a house which they called the tennis house. The money saved up in the tennis house was used for everything the children needed to do with tennis, rackets, tournaments, lessons, etc. and everyone was meant to donate a certain amount per week, even David.

After just recently having got back from Wimbledon I  have a slightly different view of this book and understand why it ends as it does. Competition is hard and to win players need to have a talent, a passion and a will to work hard all three need to go together to be a champion, of course good players can be made from just two or even one of these attributes but to really succeed you need all three. For me tennis was first made exciting when I went to watch it live in Wimbledon, the excitment of the crowds, the fact that the players were only meters away from you and even the silence and the sound of the ball as it moved across the court was exhilarating.