​Romeo Alexander Anton Silverio Fortez is a pygmy sloth. But not just any pygmy sloth. The night of his naming ceremony on the tiny island of Escudo where he was born, a fire rainbow erupted across the sky, lightning flashed, there was a shower of shooting stars and the rising moon looked magical.  Everyone knew they had just witnessed something incredible. As he grew, Romeo understood he was different to all the other sloths. He wasn’t slow like them. He was fast. Very fast. And he craved adventure and danger. He also developed hypnotic cuteness powers where all he had to do was look into someone’s eyes and they would forget what they had been doing and why they had been cross. He had become a Super Sloth!
The time came when Romeo knew he had to leave the island. He needed to be somewhere bigger, faster and with lots more happening than Escudo. New York City! It would be a bit scary and dangerous at first, but Romeo was up for it! This would be his destiny.
As soon as he arrived in New York, things began to happen. While he was admiring the famous Brooklyn Bridge, its pylons began to tilt, and the bridge began to sway. Everyone else ran the other way but Romeo ran towards the huge half shark, half wolf terrorising commuters. It held a young girl captive in one its enormous, clawed paws. A cheetah had also run towards the commotion. Together they freed the girl and the creature dived into the river below. Suddenly a pig appeared on a Vespa and yelled ‘Hop on!’ The pig, with the girl and Romeo in tow, sped away, with the Cheetah close behind. They quickly came to a cemetery and when the pig pressed a button on the Vespa, a huge panel of grass opened up beneath them revealing a ramp that led to the most amazing underground hideout.
The adventures of Romeo the Super Sloth, Tulip the Cheetah, Ham the Pig and Beth the young Crime Fighter had begun! Now all they had to do was find out where the mutant creature had come from, who had made it and how to stop them from creating more fearsome monsters. Look out evil Professor Weird Warp, your days are numbered!
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This is a rollicking, fast paced adventure story filled with incredible inventions, dangerous decisions, brave friends, superheroes, and very evil villains! Readers will be captivated from the opening page, with each chapter providing a thrilling ending to keep us wanting to find out more. Cheri Hughes’ superb black and white illustrations provide just the right amount of detail, leaving the reader with plenty of opportunities to use their own imaginations in the story. An exciting new novel for ages 8 - 12.
 
Teaching themes could include sloths, cheetahs, pigs, lemurs, superheroes, technology, inventions, villains, friendship, character traits, New York City and Brooklyn Bridge.

Find out more about Aleesah Darlison
Find out more about Cheri Hughes

Published by Big Sky Publishing
Release date: 10 April, 2023
ISBN: 9781922896537
Highly recommended ages 8 - 12. 

School's out for the summer and eleven year old Alberta Bracken (or Birdy for short) is looking forward to sun, surf and hanging with her friends at the beach. But something's not right. Her best friend Sylvie is 'ghosting' her and not returning any calls or texts, her mum and dad are acting weird and her little sister, Clementine, is even more annoying than usual. Then she gets pushed off her bike by Seth Cromby and brakes her arm and has to have it in plaster for six weeks! There go her summer holiday plans. Things get even worse when her mum (bestselling author of Tammy Bracken's Guide To Modern Manners) and dad separate because he has been having a 'thing' with someone in town. Now she knows why everyone has been acting strange. How will she get through the holidays with no friends, a broken arm and a family that is falling apart? Enter Mikki Watanabe. He's from Birdy's school but they don't really know each other - yet. Mikki has just returned from Japan and invites Birdy to hang out at his place. He's is a budding film maker and really loves trees. He tells Birdy about 'forest bathing' and how trees communicate with each other, and the more Mikki tells her, the more curious Birdy becomes. They begin making YouTube nature shorts about a pine grove they discover hidden deep in the local forest, only to be shocked to learn it will be cut down soon! They HAVE to save these beautiful, ancient trees, but how?  
This new story from Marion Roberts focuses on friendship, forests, and family. Her main characters introduce us to the science science of tree communication and their interconnectedness, and the importance of trees to our planet and our own wellbeing. She tackles the difficult issues of separation and kleptomania in a language that is easily accessible and relatable for tween readers, and at the heart of the story is the underlying theme of forgiveness. For young activists the story also provides concrete ideas on how to become involved in and promote a cause they are passionate about, without being didactic or out of reach for that age group. A quirky, warm hearted novel that will strike the right chord with its readers. 

Themes for the classroom include families, friendship, social  media, activism, forest bathing, the environment, risk taking, resilience, bullying and forgiveness.  

​Find out more about Marion Roberts
Link to lesson activities

Published 2022 by Allen & Unwin
ISBN 9781760526795 (PB)
Recommended for ages 9 to 13