Level: Band 18/Pearl. Ross has been saving for a football top of his favourite team for ages, but doesn't think he'll ever afford it. When he sees one pinned to a tree, commemorating the death of a young boy, he can't resist taking it - but Ross gets more than he bargains for, and finds having the shirt comes at a dreadful price. Band 18 books offer fluent readers a complex, substantial text with challenging themes to facilitate sustained comprehension, bridging the gap between a reading programme and longer chapter books.