Most Popular Books by Tom Palmer

Yunis can't believe that he's United leading scorer. It should be the happiest time of his life, but his father wants him to give up football and work hard at school. Can Yunis convince his dad that he can do both, or will he have to hang up his boots forever? Stay on the ball this season with all the action from Football Academy.

"Rocky proves that girls can be tough. She is a brilliant role model for girls and boys alike. - Kate Heap, A Scope for Imagination. Fourteen, hard as nails and magic on the pitch, Rocky Race is one of the best up and coming young footballers in the UK. But does she have what it takes to make it as a soccer pro in California? Can Rocky Race lead her team to victory? Now that Rocky has her grades under control, she can focus on the most important thing: she is going to the California Soccer Championships! With only weeks to go until the big match, Rocky is starting to... get nervous? But she never gets scared before a match! So why is she having nightmares, and dreading training after school? Everyone is counting on her, and she knows that winning the championship gives her a better chance of going pro. With so much pressure, will Rocky be able to step up and take the winning shot? The exciting sequel in The Soccer Diaries series starring Rocky Race, a British footballer looking to make it big. Perfect for fans of Up For Air and The Kicks!

Lucas is the best in his football team at taking penalties. He never misses - ever. But one day that all changes and Lucas has to learn to deal with his mistake, finding a way of building up his confidence once again ... This thought-provoking story was written by Tom Palmer.

A captivating, emotional look at one dog's bravery during the war Judy is a dog who lives on a ship called HMS Grasshopper. As the ship's mascot, Judy has many duties. She catches rats, watches out for soldiers who may fall overboard, and she listens out for danger. Judy loves her crew, and they love her. She knows that she brings comfort to the men, making her job very important during these hard times. But when her soldiers are taken prisoner and she is separated from her beloved Frank, she must find the strength to keep going. She is their only hope. This beautiful picture book is a testament to the love and loyalty of dogs and the importance of animal companions. Based on a true story, Tom Palmer's debut picture book is a tribute to a remarkable hero of WWII - Judy the dog She is the only animal to have been made a prisoner of war and was awarded the Dickin Medal for her services during the war Judy is magnificently brought to life with Carolina Rabei's mesmerising illustrations Learn more about the role of animals who have been involved in conflict with a non-fiction spread at the back of the book Older readers will delight in Palmer's other historical fiction books, including D-Day Dog, Over the Line, After the Warand Armistice Runner

First in the Wings trilogy. Jatinder seems to be living his dream - he's training for his team's youth squad, and his host parents Steve and Esther are really great. But the other kids are always on the alert for anything that makes a player different, and Jatinder is definitely that. Steve reckons it's good to be different - look at his own hero, Hardit Singh Malik. That night Jatinder wakes up in a seriously surprising situation - flying Hardit's WWI fighter plane into enemy airspace.

Yunis can't believe that he's United leading scorer. It should be the happiest time of his life, but his father wants him to give up football and work hard at school. Can Yunis convince his dad that he can do both, or will he have to hang up his boots forever?

"Tomasz loves playing for United - but he isn't keen on Ryan, the team captain - and bully. Ryan is always picking on him and making him feell bad about being Polish. When the club goes to Poland to play in a European tournament, Tomasz is excited and determined not to let Ryan spoil things."--Publisher's description.

Greg is only happy when he's active - on the pitch or on his phone, it doesn't matter. But as soon as training's over or his host parent Steve takes the phone away, he's on edge. Steve suggests that Greg do something quiet with him, like making one of Steve's beloved Airfix kits. And the next thing Greg knows, he's in the cockpit of a Spitfire, being forced out of the sky by a German pilot! Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 8+.

"Tom's story contains delightful romance, thrilling sporting adventure, loving family relationships, deep despair and the insurmountable challenge of over-coming severe mental illness. We endure pain and suffering as part of the human experience. Tom's spirit and perseverance show us how to overcome the darker side of life. His story is an inspiration to all." -- back cover.

Background The Changing Diabetes in Children (CDiC) project is an initiative by Novo Nordisk to improve access to diabetes care for children with Type 1 Diabetes in low- and middle-income countries. CDiC is a private-public collaboration between Novo Nordisk, Roche, the International Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) and the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF). The CDiC programme launched in 2009 and is currently running in nine countries in Africa and Asia. To date, no formal impact assessment of the CDIC programme has been performed. An assessment is therefore required to describe how the initiative has been implemented and evolved since its inception, to explore the impact of the initiative on diabetes care in children in implementing countries, and to reflect on the overall sustainability of the initiative.Aims This paper outlines the findings from an evaluation of the CDIC conducted in South Asia (Bangladesh) and East Africa (Kenya) , by UCLu2019s Institute for Global Health. The objectives of this evaluation were to:1.tIdentify the barriers to Type 1 Diabetes care in children, in each country 2.tDescribe implementation of CDiC in each setting and how it has evolved since its inception3.tEvaluate the effectiveness of the CDiC in each of the six components of the program4.tExplore the sustainability of the CDiC in Bangladesh and Kenya and derive recommendations to promote local ownership.MethodsThe evaluation applied the RAPIA methodology to the two case study countries. The RAPIA approach was developed to provide a broad situational analysis of Diabetes care, to generate recommendations for health service strengthening to national Ministries of Health and Diabetes Associations. The RAPIA studies the path of insulin and availability of infrastructure, personnel, and resources to diagnose, treat, and care for patients with diabetes and tries to identify barriers that may exist at different levels of the health system. It is used to collect information through mixed methods using a series of questionnaires, discussions, site visits, and document reviews from various stakeholders (Beran et al 2005).The RAPIA approach has previously been implemented in Zambia, Mozambique and Mali (Beran et al 2006). ResultsIn both countries, the CDiC has established a comprehensive package of care specifically targeted at children. Government buy-in is strong in both cases, which should help with any future funding transitions. In Kenya, insulin was sold for 200 KES (2 USD) per vial at the control facility but is frequently out of stock. In Bangladesh, a price cap is in place nationally of around 400 BDT per vial (5 USD). The major achievement of the scheme is that a stable supply of free insulin through CDiC was successfully established in implementing facilities in both countries. Many families struggled to afford the cost of insulin and even with free insulin the cost of transport can be prohibitively expensive.ConclusionAs the awareness and burden of NCDs continues to increase in LMICs, and given the resource constraints health systems operate under, innovative approaches to ensure access to affordable care for patients are needed. Although public-private partnerships can achieve this, their successes cannot be considered permanent. When implementing such partnerships, transitional arrangements and sustainability ought to be at the forefront of stakeholder discussions.