NIPS XI is a great example of Contemporary Realistic Fiction.  Our opinion on NIPS XI is that it was a well thought out book that can teach 10 year olds and over about true friendships, self confidence and being proud of yourself and your nationality.  One of this book's messages is to accept people for who they are, not what they look like, and to accept multiculturalism.ÝThe book NIPS XI teaches people about idioms being part of our Australian language, and it also teaches readers about the Australian way of doing things like life, sport - cricket.  From this story we have been able to learn to respect other people's cultures and know that if we keep trying, just as Lan did, we will eventually succeed at whatever we do.

Ruth Starke, was a descriptive and creative writer in describing the characters in NIPS XI to the reader.  The story line was intriguing because her descriptive writing was always shown. You feel as though you are at the scene, watching from the bench of the cricket field.  Her writing allowed you to picture the scene in your mind without the help of pictures.  We also thought that the book was written in a time frame that we could understand and respond to. Our team became engaged with the book seeing as Lan's creative mind and Spinner's attitude to the game of cricket made the book more interesting and never boring. We were impressed by the NIPS XI team's persistence in having a go and to try even though they had little support from their parents and the school principal.

Ruth Starke's messages would be able to make the world a better place when it comes to multiculturalism and accepting it. Some other messages we think she was trying to get across to the reader are that true friendship is vital. Friendship is about accepting people for what they are on the inside, not for what they look like. Lan showed this by including Tomas who couldn't speak English and Lan was also best friends with Izram, despite his weight. Sportsmanship is a good quality in a game of sport. The NIPS XI boys showed a lot of this during the book. King's College show a lack of sportsmanship and believed that the final score declared the winner. Spinner taught the boys that cheating was dishonest and dirty.  This gave the boys the right attitude to the game.
This book is important for teaching people about multiculturalism and true friendships.  We really enjoyed it and we recommend it to everyone! There is a book readers quest that includes the book NIPS XI- there are challenges to complete during and after the book has been read. We found it really fun!