Books with author Marin Black

Derek has a cause but, being Derek, he also has a host of misunderstandings to sort out, mistakes to rectify and a wife to mollify. As a natural leader, he knows that beating the Railway Developers is down to him. As a natural disaster area, we know it is unlikely to go quite to plan. In Mac Black's fifth and final Derek book the plot is stirred as poor gullible Derek tries his best and makes us laugh all the way to the end!

Four children from Crete, Alex, Irene, Kostantis and Nikolas, were searching desperately for their time-machine, which had mysteriously disappeared. That quest led them to strange places of many secrets. At last they found the machine, and this took them again to travels through time. During this adventure they met and befriended Alexander the Great. They understood his character, learned some of his secrets, and were transported with him in time to ancient Pergamon in the company of the philosopher Aristotle. A fascinating journey, full of new knowledge, danger and adventure.

Anyone who likes Mac Black’s “Please call me Derek” (and the rest in the series covering his grown-up adventures) will enjoy introducing younger friends and family to his new series, “Sweaty and Pals”. 'Sweaty and Pals Again' continues Derek’s exploits with his gang in the eighties, with quirky illustrations (by Mac Black), the stories build on Derek’s ability to find disasters and get himself into one mess after another.Sweaty’s tales are about little kids enjoying life, before smartphones and computer games came along. Of course, it is just possible – if you are older than five – that you did all these things yourself…Mac has embraced writing for younger readers with the same quirky clean humour that permeates his YA series. From Sweaty’s days at school, we meet some of the wonderful characters who pepper the adult books, subtly dealing with issues around prejudice, being different, living with the elderly, dealing with life's issues – but in a gentle, no-nonsense way that exposes the social discrimination and values that we took for granted, in those days, but we would not accept, today. This makes these stories a perfect springboard for class discussions about daily life for children thirty years ago compared with now.

Sweaty and Pals SmileAnyone who likes Mac Black’s “Please call me Derek” (and the rest in the series covering his grown-up adventures) will enjoy introducing younger friends and family to his Sweaty series, “Sweaty and Pals” and 'Sweaty and Pals Again' set the scene for characters and exploits that fill "Sweaty and Pals Smile"which continues Derek’s exploits with his gang in the eighties, with quirky illustrations (by Mac Black), the stories build on Derek’s ability to find disasters and get himself into one mess after another.Sweaty’s tales are about little kids enjoying life, before smartphones and computer games came along. Of course, it is just possible – if you are older than five – that you did all these things yourself…Mac has embraced writing for younger readers with the same quirky clean humour that permeates his YA series. From Sweaty’s days at school, we meet some of the wonderful characters who pepper the adult books, subtly dealing with issues around prejudice, being different, living with the elderly, dealing with life's issues and, not least, Sweaty's life long competition with the opposite sex – but in a gentle, no-nonsense way that exposes the social discrimination and values that we took for granted, in those days, but we would not accept, today. This makes these stories a perfect springboard for class discussions about daily life for children thirty years ago compared with now.