Rock Steady Joanne Macgregor

Samantha Steadman, and her best friends smart-mouthed Jessie Delaney and politician's daughter Nomusa Gule, are back at boarding school, in grade 9, and they are up against a whole new set of challenges. Their creepy new Science teacher - the Poison Dwarf - takes delight in tormenting Sam, and she's started counting and checking everything in a way that has her friends worried about her sanity. Add to that Sam's determination to uncover and stop the illegal trade in San rock art, a blossoming new romance (or two), and a dangerous survival competition in the mountains which will endanger the trio's lives, and Sam will need all her wits and courage to stand steady. Together they will need to find the strength to cope, and the hope that comes from knowing that individuals can make a difference. The book is aimed primarily at middle-school children, between the ages of 9 and 14 years. Girls are the chief protagonists in the story, so presumably it would mostly attract female readers, but the story is not very "girly". The girls are strong characters who do their own rescuing and make a real difference in the world.