For 8 - 12 years.

A marmot who sneaks out at night to do sports!

Magali could not have predicted who would be her number one opponent in the Paintball Competition. Never in a million years!

Ping!

Splat!

'You're out! Get off the field, Loser!'

Magali is turning into a power-hungry fruit-flinger! She's just flung a fat strawberry at the boar, and got him. Now, for the dirty squirrels. There's no way she and her mates can let them win. Her team always wins every sports competition. Tonight is going to be no different.

But... they hadn't planned on the surprise team of the night; the Mini Tree Trunks. Those dudes are so well-camouflaged that nobody notices them amongst all the crazy; charging animals, flying fruit, splattered juice, and hovering woodpeckers. It's madness on the playing field, and Magali and her best mate, Mishka, must push through and get to the winner's flag first.

Dude, this is paintball, with fruit being used for ammunition. It's flying fruit-salad-in-the-forest chaos!

Middle Grade. For ages 8-12 yrs. The adventures of Magali: a cautious adrenalin addict!

Young readers will enjoy this fantasy adventure book, set in the French Alps. There are animals of all sizes; foxes, boar, deer, rabbits, weasels, hedgehogs, owls, chamois, ibex, you name it, running around playing paintball while Big People are tucked up in their chalets!

Each book can be read as an individual book or as part of the Dude Series (recommended). The books have British spelling.

Dude's Gotta Snowboard (Book 1)

Dude's Gotta River Raft (Book 2)

Dude's Gotta Mountain Bike (Book 3)

Dude's Gotta Paraglide (Book 4)

Dude's Gotta Bobsleigh (Book 5)

Dude's Gotta Rock Climb (Book 6)

Dude's Gotta Paintball (Book 7)

Dude's Gotta Wakeboard (Book 8 Final book in series)

Question for the Author

How did you come up with the character of Magali?

'You know, I really love the French Alps, and looking at all the animals that live in the mountains. I'm Australian, so I had never seen a marmot before moving to France. I worked one summer, for a kids summer camp, and part of my job was to take the children out on walks. We would go looking for marmots, all of us being very quiet, secretly sneaking up to the holes in the ground, where the entrances to the marmot burrows were. Of course, we would make too much noise and the marmots would disappear into their underground tunnels, but sometimes we were lucky and able to take photos. I think their underground homes took over my imagination, and before you knew it, I had a whole chapter book in my head, with Magali as the principal character!'