For 8 - 12 years.

A marmot who sneaks out at night to do sports!

Magali can finally see the answer to the Bald Patch On Her Bottom problem!

'Look!' Mishka pointed. A black and white badger zoomed across the lake on his fat wakeboard. He was holding a bark rope, and being pulled by two Bodybuilder Owls. He lifted into the air, and did a 360 mid-air!

Magali and her best friend, Mishka, want to wakeboard and do cool tricks too, but the Frog is not making it easy. 200 dragonflies is his price for a wakeboard. Who's got 200 dragonflies?! They haven't even got one.

There's a bigger problem. Magali's discovered a new sport. One that is separate to her best mate, Mishka, and their friends. One that she's really good at. She wants to do both sports, but she's finding it hard. On top of that, the big Wakeboarding Show Off Competition is coming up. Will she have the energy to participate?

This marmot is not sure what to do. Well, she is sure, sort of. But, she doesn't want to do what she knows she needs to do.

Dude, how is she going to choose between old friends and new friends?

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; chamois, foxes, boar, deer, rabbits, hare, eagles, ibex, hedgehogs, owls, you name it, wakeboarding at night 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!'