The Bare Bum Gang and the Football Face-Off [Paperback]

Besides getting the all-male world of small boys to a T, it has irresistible instructions about how to make fart-bombs. --The Times

Likely to appeal even to reluctant readers because it is funny and uninhibitedly improper, it is also well observed about boys and their attitude to girls.

An engagingly witty story, it offers ready boy-appeal - though girls, too, will appreciate its sharp stance on gender stereotyping

There's a fine line between crude and funny, and McGowan treads it expertly. If this doesn't get 7- to 9-year-olds reading, nothing will

Pranks, football and fart bombs in the first hilarious adventure of the Bare Bum Gang!

Join Ludo, Noah, Jamie and Phillip - the Bare Bum Gang - as they defend their gang headquarters with Smarties tube fart bombs and other ingenious traps. The gang's new (and unwanted!) name is bad enough, but things are about to get much worse. Their number 1 enemies have challenged them to a football match, and the prize at stake is the gang den. And guess what - they're all completely rubbish at football!

How can they save the den? How can they get back their pride?

Find out in the first Bare Bum Gang adventure!

It all started when Jennifer Eccles said she wanted to be in our gang. Until then we were just called the Gang...

Meet Ludo, Noah, Jamie and Phillip - THE BARE BUM GANG!

The gang's new name is bad enough, but things are about to get much worse. Their number one enenmies have challenged them to a football match, and the prize at stake is the gang den. And guess what - THEY'RE ALL COMPLETELY RUBBISH AT FOOTBALL!

How can they save the den? How can they save their pride?

Find out in the first Bare Bum Gang adventure!

Anthony McGowan was born in Manchester in 1965. Educated at a Catholic comprehensive, he won't say that his character's schooldays are exactly based on his own but he certainly writes from experience. Before turning to writing full-time, Anthony gained a PhD in Philosophy, worked as a nightclub bouncer, an Open University tutor, a journalist and a civil servant. He is married with two children. In 2006 he won the Booktrust Teenage Prize for his teenage novel Henry Tumour. The Bare Bum Gang is his first series for younger readers.