Marcy Series #2 by Susan Halliday

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Quiz Champs: ISBN: 9781921665721 (pbk.)
Thirteen Dolphins: ISBN: 9781921665738 (pbk.)
Lost Dogs: ISBN: 9781921665745 (pbk.)
Award Winners: ISBN: 9781921665752 (pbk.)
Netball Challenge: ISBN: 9781921665714
Box Set: ISBN: 9781921665882
Ford Street, 2013. 55 pages, paperback  AUD $9.95 each . Boxed set with Toocool: $89.95.
(Age: Beginning readers) Adventure. Just watch the smaller humans scramble for the shelves when they see these arrive! All those eager little readers who are beginning their 'chapter' book journeys just eat up these fun and exciting stories and bask in their success in doing so. A perfect addition to any school or home library, and available singly or as a boxed set (both series). As the characters in both series, Too Cool and Marcy, are the same, both boys and girls can relate to them and share the laughter which inevitably results from following their exploits.
After the success of the first series of the Marcy books, Susan Halliday has provided us with a whole new set of Marcy stories to entertain and delight young readers, particularly girls. While Marcy has her fair share of foibles, she is a girl who is ready to have a go at anything, invariably with great gusto.  Marcy's positive attitude and her self confidence (sometimes a tad TOO much confidence!) make her an endearing character and the reader is immensely pleased to read about the success and unexpected rewards of her ventures.  This series has a commendable thread of responsibility and citizenship running through, which would lend itself well to a class discussion on these values. I can also well imagine some enthusiastic girls initiating a staff/student netball challenge at their own schools! As with Toocool, the books follow the useful format of glossary and information and similarly these are handled in a way which is entertaining and engaging.
Ford St has provided a wonderful set of teaching notes (linked to the Australian curriculum) on its website.
These series would also make an extremely useful addition to any 'home reading' program with far more engagement and potential 'follow on' than the ubiquitous basal reader. Enthusiastically recommended for readers 7 years and on, for library, classroom or home.
Sue Warren