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Book Set: Red Oak Heroes Series (6 Books)
*Available from 15 August 2023
Age Range: 10 – 14 years
This is a bookset of all six titles in the Red Oak Heroes Series:
- Theodosia Okoh
- The Big Six
- Abedi Ayew Pele
- John Agyekum Kufour
- Kofi Annan
- Dr. J. B. Danquah
Introduce your children and adolescents to these Ghanaian Heroes.₵185.00₵210.00Book Set: Red Oak Heroes Series (6 Books)
₵185.00₵210.00 -
Red Oak Heroes Series: Kofi Annan
*Available from 15 August 2023
Age Range: 10 – 14 years
From the day Awo, a seven-year-old primary two girl, first hears about Mr. Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General, she becomes so fascinated by his great achievements that she vows to become like him.
With the help of everyone she comes across, her Uncle, Mr. Thompson especially, Awo learns as much as she can about her role model. Her curious questions often jog the memories of those who answer them, causing them to remember even the least things they know about the first black African to occupy the United Nation Secretary-General position. Having secured her mother’s promise to take her along to visit Mr. Annan the next time he is in the country, Awo’s only prayer is for that day to come quickly. But will Awo’s dream ever come to pass?₵35.00 -
Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes (Hardcover)
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
America’s most popular sports media figure tells it like it is in this surprisingly personal book, not only dishing out his signature, uninhibited opinions but also revealing the challenges he overcame in childhood as well as at ESPN, and who he really is when the cameras are off.
Stephen A. Smith has never been handed anything, nor was he an overnight success. Growing up poor in Queens, the son of Caribbean immigrants and the youngest of six children, he was a sports-obsessed kid who faced a number of struggles, from undiagnosed dyslexia to getting enough cereal to fill his bowl. As a basketball player at Winston-Salem State University, he got a glimmer of his true calling when he wrote a newspaper column arguing for the retirement of his own Hall of Fame coach, Clarence Gaines.
Smith hustled and rose up from a high school reporter at Daily News (New York) to a general sports columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer in the 1990s, before getting his own show at ESPN in 2005. After he was unceremoniously fired from the network in 2009, he became even more determined to fight for success. He got himself rehired two years later and, with his razor-sharp intelligence and fearless debate style, found his role on the show he was destined to star in: First Take, the network’s flagship morning program.
In Straight Shooter, Smith writes about the greatest highs and deepest lows of his life and career. He gives his thoughts on Skip Bayless, Ray Rice, Colin Kaepernick, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Cowboys, and former President Donald Trump. But he also pulls back the curtain and talks about life beyond the set, sharing authentic stories about his negligent father, his loving mother, being a father himself, his battle with life-threatening COVID-19, and what he really thinks about politics and social issues. He does it all with the same intelligence, humor, and charm that has made him a household name.
Provocative, moving, and eye-opening, this book is the perfect gift for lovers of sports, television, and anyone who likes their stories delivered straight to the heart.
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Uphill: A Memoir (Hardcover)
One of Oprah Daily‘s Best Fall Nonfiction Books of 2022
An empowering, unabashedly bold memoir by the Atlantic journalist and former ESPN SportsCenter coanchor about overcoming a legacy of pain and forging a new path, no matter how uphill life’s battles might be.Jemele Hill’s world came crashing down when she called President Trump a “white supremacist”; the White House wanted her fired from ESPN, and she was deluged with death threats. But Hill had faced tougher adversaries growing up in Detroit than a tweeting president. Beneath the exterior of one of the most recognizable journalists in America was a need―a calling―to break her family’s cycle of intergenerational trauma.
Born in the middle of a lively routine Friday night Monopoly game to a teen mother and a heroin-addicted father, Hill constantly adjusted to the harsh realities of not only her own childhood but the inherited generational pain of her mother and grandmother. Her escape was writing.
Hill’s mother was less than impressed with the brassy and bold free expression of her diary, but Hill never stopped discovering and amplifying her voice. Through hard work and a constant willingness to learn, Hill rose from newspaper reporter to columnist to new heights as the coanchor for ESPN’s revered SportsCenter. Soon, she earned respect and support for her fearless opinions and unshakable confidence, as well as a reputation as a trusted journalist who speaks her mind with truth and conviction.
In Jemele Hill’s journey Uphill, she shares the whole story of her work, the women of her family, and her complicated relationship with God in an unapologetic, character-rich, and eloquent memoir.
₵550.98Uphill: A Memoir (Hardcover)
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The Black Star: The Autobiography of C.K. Gyamfi (Hardcover)
Over 60 years ago, Ghana’s national football team was rechristened Black Stars: a homage to the star in the middle of the Ghana national flag, a symbolic projection of black excellence.
Charles Kumi Gyamfi, the team’s founding captain, would later coach it to three Africa Cup titles. In his autobiography, written in collaboration with Fiifi Anaman, Gyamfi chronicles his seminal career. If this book reads like a history of Ghana football, then it probably is: C.K. Gyamfi and Ghana football are consubstantial, as rarely has a country’s football story been dominated by one man.
This is the story of the archetypal Black Star, whose pioneering achievements and expansive influence – on the pitch and from the dugout – changed a nation and impacted a continent.
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LeGyanDary (Hardcover)
In July 2010, Asamoah Gyan had the chance to join football immortality – and missed it. The scars of that World Cup penalty will remain for years. Remarkably, it does not define him.
Instead, drawing strength from his difficult career beginnings, Gyan will go on to become a history-making Ghana captain – breaking record after record for club and country along the way.
Yet, the quest for greatness sees Gyan make some costly mistakes, which he recounts in sobering detail. He owns up to them, sharing how they affected his family and career, as well as lessons learned.
What was said in dressing rooms across his storied career? How did he handle the mysterious disappearance of his friend Castro and other scandals? What are his plans after football?
In this book, Gyan bares his soul. He seeks no sympathy; he simply wants his side of an often-one-sided story to be heard, introducing us to names, people and influences we did not know before.
LeGyanDary is not only for football fanatics. It is written to challenge those who fear their dreams, to empathize with the misunderstood, and to start a conversation about how we treat our icons – for good, and for bad.
₵225.00LeGyanDary (Hardcover)
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Polo the Magnificent: The Story of the Dribbling Magician
Nii Odai Anidaso Laryea is a product of a number of academic institutions including Prempeh College (completed in 1974/5), Tarkwa Secondary School (1977), the University of Ghana, Legon (1980) and the then University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (1985).
Nii Odai fell in love with Ahmed Polo when the youngster burst onto the turf in the early and mid-1980s in Ghana. According to the author, he has not come across a finer footballer on the African continent of Polo’s ilk. Even beyond the shores of Africa, the only soccer gem, he opines, whose skills surpass that of Mohammed Polo is Diego ‘Armando’ Maradona.
The book attempts to recollect some of the memorable matches he played and gleans perspectives from some sportswriters who watched him play in his hey-days. The book also takes the reader back into days of yore and helps in recollecting the ‘good old days’ of the 1970s and 1980s when Ghana could boast of quality soccer stars. It is also to get the current generation to appreciate the fact that once upon a time, Ghana produced a soccer prodigy whose magic and wizardry were almost equal to that of Maradona.
It is the expectation of the author that perhaps God, in His infinite mercy might one day embellish the soccer landscape of Ghana with a similar, if not greater soccer genius.
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Red Oak Heroes Series: Abedi Ayew ‘Pele’
*Available from 15 August 2023
Age Range: 10 – 14 years
From playing football barefooted in his neighbourhood as a young boy, Abedi Ayew is now rated among the top footballers around the world. He started playing for the Ghana senior national team when he was only seventeen years old. His passion for the game did not die when two arch-rival clubs in Ghana, Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko, refused to sign him on. He went ahead to sign a contract with AS Dragon FC of Benin and subsequently moved to European and United Arab Emirates clubs where he influenced their style of play. As an attacking midfielder, his spectacular goals were what pushed his teams to win trophies at major tournaments. Abedi’s contribution to football at both club and national levels is what earned him nicknames like ‘Pele’ and African Maradona.
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Leaders Don’t Have to Yell: National Team Coach on Leading High-Performing Teams
Ghana’s Coach James Kwasi Appiah highlights experiences from his international playing and coaching career, and showcases his thoughts on Ghana football’s past, present and future. Appiah also discusses major events during his time as a player, his journey to becoming an international coach, qualifying the national team to the World Cup, his teams preparations and participation in the 2019 African Cup of Nations, Ghana’s Best XI, and leaving a legacy.
The book is divided into four parts:
Part 1 – From Boy to Man, about his childhood through to his days with Kumasi Asante Kotoko;
Part 2 – A Leader of Men and Teams, about becoming a coach and eventually the coach of the Black Stars;
Part 3 – Champions Always Play to Win, about key events in his playing and coaching career; and
Part 4 – Leaving a Legacy, about money, Ghana’s Best XI, and the future of Ghana football.
Appiah gives his account of Senegal ’92, which includes an eye-witness account of the Black Stars’ painful loss of an AFCON final after the marathon penalty shootout, as well as about the captaincy controversy at that tournament that involved Kwasi Appiah, Abedi Pele, Tony Baffoe and Tony Yeboah. He also shares about the Brazil 2014 World Cup events, AFCON 2019 (which has three chapters dedicated to it), about making money and investing wisely, and his list of Ghana’s all-time best players.
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The Man in the Middle
The long-awaited autobiography of Howard Webb, the man who refereed the World Cup final. Webb’s first game as a match official came when he was just 18 and his father’s verdict was blunt: ‘Useless – he doesn’t know his arse from his elbow.’ It wasn’t the last time his performance would come under fire. But Webb progressed through the ranks, and his natural calm authority made a good impression on players and administrators alike, and soon he was being offered the top matches and the toughest fixtures. The policeman went on to take charge of some of the most important games, including the 2009 FA Cup final, the 2010 Champions League final and – the biggest of the lot – the 2010 World Cup final. Now, in this superb and frank memoir, Howard Webb reveals what it is like to be at the heart of the action in modern-day football where every decision can be unpicked by television cameras. He explains how he learned to handle some of the game’s superstars. Refereeing is a hard business, but Webb shows just why he enjoyed it so much and provides fascinating insights into how he dealt with the most challenging situations. With his unique perspective, and the characteristic honesty and humour he has displayed as a pundit on BT Sport, Webb has written a book that reveals the game – and the man himself – in a new light. ‘Genuinely fascinating insight into the difficulties of officiating in the modern game, and Webb’s frankness and self-deprecation are to be commended’ When Saturday Comes
₵85.00The Man in the Middle
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Farewell But Not Goodbye (Hardcover)
The autobiography of Sir Bobby Robson, a former international footballer for England who has become one of the most widely respected managers in the World game. In addition to managing England in two World Cups, Sir Bobby has also taken charge of numerous clubs including Barcelona, Newcastle United, PSV Eindhoven, Ipswich Town, Sporting Lisbon and Porto.
₵85.00