6.4 /10 1 Votes
Country United Kingdom Series Paul Faustino Pages 264 pp (first edition) Followed by Exposure | 3.2/5 Goodreads Language English Publication date 2 October 2006 Originally published 2 October 2006 Preceded by Keeper Publisher Walker Books | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardcover & paperback) Genres Sports Fiction, Fiction, Young adult fiction, Children's literature Similar Mal Peet books, Young adult fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Penalty is a sports novel for young adults by Mal Peet, published by Walker Books in 2006. It is the second (of three to 2011) football stories featuring South American sports journalist Paul Faustino. The teen football prodigy El Brujito ("The Little Magician") disappears without a trace and Faustino is drawn to the mystery. He unfolds the story behind the disappearance.
Walker's North American division Candlewick Press published the first U.S. edition in 2005. A German-language translation was published in 2008.
Peet and The Penalty made the 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize shortlist (six finalists).
For the next Faustino football book, Peet won the 2009 Guardian Prize and explained to the sponsoring newspaper about his second career (then aged 62) that he had felt 'football books for children were "pretty much hey"'. Also, "I used to play all the time. I would play football when it was light and read when it was dark. Now I get to play football vicariously."