As the mystery deepens and they uncover one surprising clue after another, they discover that someone - or something - has cursed the basketball team! Can Marcus and his friends solve the mystery in time? About This Edition ISBN: The second instalment of The Breakfast Club Adventures introduces a new mystery for the investigators as they try to uncover what is causing the school basketball team’s losing streak. The story builds nicely on the first book and provides sufficient recaps to jog your memory (which I appreciated!).

Inspired by Marcus’s own experiences growing up, The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Beast Beyond the Fence is the first fiction book by England International footballer, child-poverty campaigner and bestselling author Marcus Rashford MBE. This book is really good fun and kind of reminded me of Scooby Do with all the talks of a ghoul. The main theme of this book is around people putting pressure on themselves and others to be perfect and the importance of asking for help. Marcus wants the Breakfast Club Investigators to be the perfect team who can solve all the mysteries put their way. When they struggle to work out what's going on, he starts to worry that the club will end and he'll lose all of his friends. Meanwhile, the school basketball team have suddenly hit a bad run of form and their captain, Gbenga, is feeling the pressure to be the best. Both Marcus and Gbenga recognise that the pressure they're putting on themselves to be successful is taking its toll on them and the things they used to enjoy but they're not sure how to fix it. Thankfully for Marcus, his friends are there to support him and teach him that actually, asking for help is a strength and it can even mean you make new friends. OK, Marta, I've got another one for you here. How do you think illustrations add to the experience for the reader? From beasts lurking beyond fences and ghouls living in school to thieving phantoms and monsters on a treasure hunt, get ready to become part of a band of puzzle detectives ... and make some really great friends along the way. Plus, if you love football, then this series will be without doubt your match made in heaven! In June 2021, Marcus launched The Marcus Rashford Book Club in collaboration with Macmillan Children's Books. With MCB, Marcus chooses and recommends books he thinks children will enjoy, with the aim of encouraging and nurturing an early love of reading.When 12-year-old Marcus receives a mysterious invitation to join the Breakfast Club Investigators, little does he know that so many adventures await... and there are strange, curious cases that need solving! As he joins the Breakfast Club Investigators, he also makes new friends: Stacey, Lise and Asim. Together, they will have to use their wit, nerve and all their courage to solve some of the creepiest, weirdest and WILDEST mysteries their town has ever seen!

The characters are extremely relatable and some of the issues they face will be welcomed by the younger reader - self-doubt, anxieties around friendships and in-school rivalries to name a few. But the main takeaway message is that it is ok to ask for help as we can’t all be good at everything. A teacher’s guide with reading National Curriculum links, discussion questions, and follow-up reader-response activity ideas. We have partnered with the publisher Macmillan Children’s Books to create exclusive materials to accompany The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Ghoul in the School.ALEX: So the first thing I think about is what do I want the setting to do in- as part of the story? Um, how do I want this place to feel? Um, how do I want the audience to feel about it? And then when you can go from there, when you know what you want, um, you-, how you want the place to feel, then you- you go through your senses. Think about your smell, um, the things you can hear, the things you can see. And then just really go through there, and, um, and using that you can really craft a- a setting. LAURA: Hmm. We've got some questions about writing and illustrating books, but all we need is a writer and an illustrator. Ah! Marta! Alex! Perfect! MARTA: Oh my goodness. Er, they add massively, I think. 'Cause obviously the text is one thing but then the illustrations just basically expand, I think, the story. So, er, you illustrate what is in a story but also maybe what isn't, to a degree. So maybe, you know, some things aren't quite said in a text but you can add them, um, expand, basically. MARTA: That's right. And it's a nice way because when you're using a pen like s- like this one you can't rub it off. So you just draw the line in there. LAURA: Of course, the eyebrows. They give expression. Oh, and I see what you've done there. You've done it like Marcus' eyebrow.