Skit (Paperback or Softback)

With a start they realised the man was untying the dinghy. He was coming ashore! Marlie and Tommy quickly found a tree to hide behind and hoped the little dog would stay quiet.

They watched with their hearts in their mouths as the dinghy silently glided towards the beach in the moonlight. The man jumped ashore and dragged the dinghy up onto the sand, tying it to a log. He looked up and down the beach and then started softly calling.

It all started with a message in a bottle – a desperate plea for help – but how can a team of four kids unravel the clues to find the kidnapped man? And now they are dangerously close to being discovered! Tommy and Marlie know they would be in BIG trouble if Tommy’s mum knew what they’d done – sneaking out at night was bad enough, but coming face to face with a kidnapper on a deserted beach? His mum would go NUTS!!!

For Cam and Dawn Portelli, this is not just an adventure, this is their future – SKIT must succeed!

France Dot is the author and illustrator of the mystery adventure series, A Marlie Starr and Tommy Bell Investigation. She also writes and illustrates short stories for younger children.She distinctly remembers feeling very grown up at the age of ten, but many adults have forgotten and don't always give children the credit they deserve. This is proven regularly when grandparents realise they are being used as the (willing?) minions of their grandchildren!She attended schools in three countries, moved house over twenty times, lived on a beach in North Queensland (it was the seventies!), and now lives in Melbourne surrounded by her wonderful family - including lots of very smart grandchildren!France Dot aims to write engaging, humorous, inclusive stories for children of all ages.Many of the books available for middle-grade readers are in the magical/fantasy genre, whereas her Marlie and Tommy series is about real children having real adventures.She feels very strongly about equality and inclusivity and would love to see our world getting better at this. By weaving inclusive themes naturally into her stories, she hopes she can help her readers come to see differences as normal.