- Sport
- Chapter Books
- Ages 8–13
The shape of it
The shape of this universe.
The Academy is T.Z. Layton's New York Times bestselling football (soccer) series, following small-town Ohio prodigy Leo K. Doyle as he crosses the Atlantic to fight for a place at an elite London youth academy and, book by book, climbs toward the professional game. Each instalment is built around a fresh footballing challenge — trials, a struggling club side, European and international tournaments — with short, cliff-hanging chapters engineered for reluctant readers. Underneath the on-pitch drama runs a big-hearted underdog story about grit, homesickness, teamwork and self-belief, with real emotional stakes tied to Leo's widowed dad back home. Propulsive and endlessly readable, it is a go-to for football-mad children who devour a proper tournament run.
A New York Times bestselling underdog football series: a small-town prodigy fights his way up an elite youth academy, in short, propulsive chapters made for reluctant readers.
Primary themes
Tone palette
- Exciting
- Inspirational
- Adventurous
- Heartwarming
The series
One way in.
Cultural footprint
A shelf of evidence.
What The Academy has done
- Bestseller
Cultural ubiquity
3/ 5Well-known to people who know the room.
Sensitivity
Moderate, and collection-wide.
Content notes
- Bullying
- Grief
- Poverty or hardship
Across the collection
All 6 books.
About the creator