The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Ghoul in the School

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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. 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!). 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.

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 their 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. And, you know, I look at that. I- I sort of think, oh, what are the good ones or the not. And usually I may have some of my own ideas, so then we have this dialogue and I suggest, oh, how about this? And then from that we have the proper solid list on to which I– ALEX: Yeah! laughter Um, I definitely read out loud, especially because sometimes I may make a little mistake or miss out a word, and so it's good to read out loud to catch that. Um, but also when you read out loud you can really s-, um, sense the rhythm of a piece and how- and how it feels when you're reading it. So yeah, that's definitely something to do, maybe even with some EXPRESSION!

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OK, Marta, I've got another one for you here. How do you think illustrations add to the experience for the reader? 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. MARTA: Exactly. And when you do both sides at the same time it's easy to find your way. Now we're gonna do the bottom...part.

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. Marcus Rashford MBE is Manchester United's iconic number 10 and an England International footballer. In October 2020, he was appointed MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. Marcus has committed himself to combating child poverty in the UK and his book You Are a Champion, written with Carl Anka, is an inspiring guide for children about reaching their full potential. Marcus's first fiction title, The Breakfast Club Adventures, written with Alex Falase-Koya, published in May 2022.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! With a book that includes emphasised words in a text, how do you decide which are the important words to stand out? The Breakfast Club Investigators haven’t managed to solve a mystery in months and Marcus is worried that the group is going to break up! So when the captain of the school basketball team comes to ask for their help Marcus knows this might just be the Investigator’s last chance to prove themselves. 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. This is a great story about friendship, working together and not being afraid to ask for help when needed. It has themes of learning from your mistakes and trying again. I love that Marcus and his friends all have different personalities and each brings a different skill to the club. The club is a mix of boys and girls and they all work together to solve the mystery, there is no defined leader and everyone's opinion is listened to.

ALEX: Well, um, this is the type of thing where we kind of do-, it's all a real team effort. So we have loads of book designers who, um, look really hard at the text and think about what are the type of things which, um, are words that can catch the audience's eye. Um, and they kind of help, er, put that all together. Alex Falase-Koya is a London native. He has been both reading and writing since he was a teenager; anything at the cross-section of social commentary and genre fiction floats his boat. He was a winner of Spread the Word's 2019 London Writers Awards for YA/children's. He now lives in Walthamstow with his girlfriend and two cats. He is the cowriter of Marcus Rashford's debut children's fiction title The Breakfast Club Adventures. LAURA: Yeah, that's good. Thank you. And finally, when you're writing, do you ever read the words out loud to see how it sounds? And do you think it's important to use lots of EXPRESSION when reading out LOUD?!MARTA: And then we're gonna go – just not to get lost in it a bit too much, we go a little bit on one side...a little bit on the other. MARTA: Little lines underneath, because he's smiling, and when we smile we've got these little lines. And last but not least... LAURA: Of course, the eyebrows. They give expression. Oh, and I see what you've done there. You've done it like Marcus' eyebrow. MARTA: A bit of a half a broccoli, indeed. And then we do the same on the other side, keeping in mind we don't wanna go over the ear too much.