Salisbury author's first book timed perfectly for Women's World Cup Final

Emma Drag's written about a young female footballer aiming for the top

Published 18th Aug 2023

A Salisbury teacher says it's 'really exciting' to have her first book being released just in time for the Women's World Cup final.

Emma Drag's written 'Grace's Euro Adventures' after finding there weren't many children's novels by females about football.

The novel's based on a young female footballer hoping to make it to the top of the game, aimed at 7 to 12 year old readers.

She explains how 'Grace's Euro Adventures' started to come together:

"It was during the pandemic, I was a supply teacher on furlough. I signed up to do my second masters degree in Children's Literature and part of that was researching. I'd noticed there weren't many stories for children by women writing about sport, and indeed writing about football."

In the story, Grace meets ex Saints and England player Sue Lopez, who gives her a magic key to be able to visit her footballing heroes.

She travels around Europe to learn from the best, overcome challenges, and move towards her dream of playing football professionally.

The book's been released this week (Thursday 17th August), just in time for England's Lionesses to take on Spain in the World Cup Final on Sunday (20th August).

Emma says she wanted to fill a gap in the market:

"It's that phrase you hear quite a lot - if you can't see it, you can't be it. Sometimes you have to illuminate these things and perhaps be that person that shows it can be done. That's also inspiring to me."

She says seeing the book in print is 'really exciting' and she's combining three of her passions - writing, teaching the younger generation, and the sport of football itself.

Emma's holding a launch event for the book at Salisbury Library on Monday morning (21st August).

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.