As she fell, she felt something hard against her back – her snowboard! EJ reached back, grabbed her board, pulled it down and clicked her boots together. Please let there be jet-pack heels, she thought to herself. Please! She clicked again and the suction soles popped out. Another click – stilts. Aaaaaaaaaaargh! SHINE really needed a better system than this. Still falling, she clicked again and finally a jet pack emerged from each heel. EJ checked her boots were locked to the snowboard and pulled the laces to activate her boots.
Varoom!
At school Emma Jacks is just one of the girls, worrying about parties, friendships and bullies. But in secret, Emma is also Special Agent EJ12, off on code-cracking secret missions. In Hot and Cold , the first book of the series, EJ!@ must travel to Antarctica to try to stop an evil-doer’s plan to melt the pack ice. Using her code-cracking skills, her ingenuity, and the secret tools given to her by SHINE, EJ12 takes on the evil Caterina Hill. But as plain old Emma Jacks, can she use what she’s learnt to deal with the bully Nema?
This new series aimed squarely at girl readers aged 8 plus combines adventure and action with issues which child readers will relate to such as peer pressure and bullying. The dilemmas which face Emma as EJ12 are mirrored by those she’s facing in her daily life as a school girl.
With shiny silver covers, a fast paced story and a dedicated website this series is likely to prove popular.
Hot and Cold (EJ12: Girl Hero)
Scholastic Australia & Lemon Fizz Media, 2010
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