You Are A Champion: Unlock Your Potential, Find Your Voice and Be The BEST You Can Be

Reviewed by Helen Morgan

You Are A Champion – How To Be The Best You Can Be by Marcus Rashford with Journalist Carl Anka and Performance Psychologist Katie Warriner, is a practical guide to developing resilience, a positive mindset and striving to be the best.

A plethora of stories and advice are cleverly woven through a series of chapters including, daring to dream, building confidence, navigating adversity, the importance of practice, finding your voice and continuous learning. Rashford describes important moments in his journey so far, from discovering his love of football, perfecting his skills, family stories and his inspirations.

I do not profess to know much about football, and I wondered if that would affect my enjoyment of this book. However, as Rashford states himself, the book is not just about football. I found it to be an endearing and extremely motivating read. Rashford’s inspiration coupled with an engaging, infographic design culminates in a text that is not only easy to access time and time again but one that is extremely relatable. At the end of each chapter, there are action points (on darker paper) where the reader is invited to focus on the key messages and is encouraged to consider how dreams can be turned into reality – however small each step on that road might be.

You Are A Champion, would be well placed in upper KS2 classrooms and school libraries but would also fit very well in secondary school libraries, particularly for the transition from Year 6-7. As a read-aloud or group reader, it offers the opportunity for young people to explore the advice shared, and to compare it to their own feelings and experiences. I immediately gave it to my teenage son because, like many others his age, he is still at the beginning of his journey and this book is hugely successful in reminding young people that they are, ‘capable of amazing things’. Regardless of age, Rashford reminds his readers that, ‘everything is impossible until someone does it and that if you keep your mind open, your heart full and surround yourself with people that love and appreciate you, then there are no limits on what you can do.’