Dare to Bowl (Howzat Pat #1)

Written by Pat Cummins and Dave Hartley

Illustrated by Serena Geddes

Reviewed by Helen Gearing

Australian Cricket Captain Pat Cummins has teamed up with children’s author Dave Hartley and illustrator Serena Geddes to create a new middle grade series based on the cricketer’s early years growing up in the Blue Mountains.

Pat’s world is upended when his family move from Sydney to the Blue Mountains, where his mum has a new job as Assistant Principal of Mount Riverview Primary School. The family of seven are welcomed – almost too enthusiastically – by the small community and Pat finds himself invited into the coolest trio in Riverview Year Five, led by the charismatic Levi.

However, Levi’s welcome is conditional on Pat completing the group’s initiation dares, and Pat begins to realise that at the heart of creating a new life in Mount Riverview lies a single question: cool or kind, what’s more important in a friend?

Dare to Bowl is a fast-paced story with plenty to enjoy for readers eight years and older: believable characters, high stakes, and wonderfully expressive illustrations. The cover and internal design by Stephanie Spartels is also highly appealing, with plenty of white space and font variations to break up longer scenes and support developing readers.

It’s a little different, however, to many sports novels for a similar age group as the story’s central focus is the main character navigating new friendships, rather challenges emerging from playing the sport itself (other than the opening and penultimate chapters, Pat Cummings doesn’t touch a bat or cricket ball). However, young fans who want to know the person behind the game will thoroughly enjoy this story. The second in series, Mission Wildlife Rescue, has also been recently released.

HarperCollins AU 2024 with Teacher’s Notes

Pat Cummins

Dave Hartley

Serena Geddes