Barry Locke, Half-Back by Ralph Henry Barbour

Description

Ralph Henry Barbour wrote more than a hundred books for boys, and the Murray Hill stories are the ones readers still remember. In this installment Barry Locke arrives at a school where football is practically a religion, the team needs a dependable half-back, and the staircases seem to be governed by their own laws of supply and demand — including one memorable midnight hunt for a runaway frog named Antonio.

The novel is a perfect specimen of the school-story at its most affectionate: try-outs and tactics, dormitory loyalties, an interfering old typewriter, and the quiet kindnesses that matter more than touchdowns. Barbour understands exactly how much of a boy’s life is lived among his peers, and he writes it with humour and no heavy moralising. A book that has introduced generations of readers to the pleasures of team sport.

Why readers still come back to it

• Genial, funny boarding-school comedy with a real feel for boyhood
• Football action written by the acknowledged master of the genre
• The book that made Barbour the ‘every boy’s laureate’ of his time

About this DodaBooks edition

This edition gives you the complete text with clean, professional typesetting, a working table of contents, and careful chapter navigation — designed for comfortable reading on phones, tablets, and e-readers. Instant download after purchase.