Amanda Commander is the unofficial leader of her backyard club – The Dolphin Squad.

Amanda and her best friends Lu and Mai are in the same Year 3 class at school, all wear a dolphin charm necklace, and love sharing baking and doing crafts together in their clubhouse in Amanda’s backyard.

One day in class they all receive a notice on white paper. White paper always means something important and sure enough, it’s announcing a compulsory school cross country event. Some are excited about the upcoming fun that goes along with it as they dress up in their house colours, but some are dreading it already. Mai really hates running, and Lu and Amanda know they must try and cheer her up.

They soon come up with a solution – Operation Cross Country!

Mai might not like running but Amanda does. She must make a decision whether to be one of the first 10 runners over the line or run with her friends in support.

But her Lu and Mai don’t stick with the plan. Amanda must deal with her disappointment with her friend’s broken pinky promise.

These friends do everything together and decide to run cross country the same way. But during the race, competitive natures and the excitement of the day wins over and a pinky promise is broken.

Promises made mean a lot to these seven year olds, and main character Amanda is left with hurt feelings. Lu and Mai realise what has happened and quickly remedy things. This trio have just learnt a new lesson – just by being friends.

With three books in the series so far, they can be read in any order, making them so much easier to pick up and enjoy.

Author – Coral Vass

Illustrator – Heidi Cooper Smith

Age – 7+

Read more in the series (Click on a Cover)

(2022, Exisle Publishing, School, Friendship, Series, Peer Pressure, Clubhouse, Painting, Arts, Colours, Cross Country, Running, Competition)