Book excerpt: When SOS is struck by a heatwave, the students decide to cool off with ice creams and a swim at the beach. But in the rush to escape the school, Samuel So ’n’ Slow is left behind. Can the sloth catch up to his friends before the temperature gets even hotter? Welcome to the School of Scallywags, a boarding school for young pirates. At SOS, students live at school during the term and go home for the holidays. Each night is one big sleepover with their friends! Each new day is an adventure waiting to happen. The students at SOS don’t always get things right. But with a little encouragement from their friends and teachers, they learn that even the biggest disasters can be turned around. Each story in the SOS series focuses on a different student and explores the personal and social challenges they face. Themes for Heatwave include feeling excluded for who you are and looking out for others. SOS stories are designed for developing readers in lower to middle primary school. Books in the series include both male and female protagonists. Each book has seven or eight short chapters with illustrations on every page. Readers can move up to the award-winning Scallywags series which feature the same characters in extended adventures.