Principles used in preparing these books:

The genre and style:
• non-fiction, with a story structure;
• designed to make reading easy, fun, and successful;
• use of second person imperative tense to involve the reader;
• appropriate use of word patterns, repetition, and teenage humour.

The topics and characters:
• high-interest topics mainly for boys, but also featuring girls;
• most characters the same age as, or a little older than the reader;
• characters that are credible and speak naturally.

The structure and layout:
• divided into chapters;
• up-to-date photo-magazine style;
• double-page openings with small, complete episodes of the story;
• small blocks of text separated by illustrations;
• clear typefaces with generous leading.

The information:
• real information that the students want;
• information that is useful in life;
• presented as text, photos, captions, diagrams, tables, and glossaries.

The text:
• short sentences, with one idea per sentence;
• line breaks that support understanding of the text;
• simple vocab + interest words, without patronising the reader;
• short paragraphs opening with the main idea in highlighted text.

The illustrations:
• closely support the text;
• largely photographic, relating the text to reality.