While watching television, Berry and Aidan are struck by the claims of the advertisements they see. Who decides what is "hot", what is "hip"? Berry is keen to investigate these questions and drags Aidan along as an unwilling accomplice.

What Berry wants to know is how a song can be called a number one before it has even hit the stores, and how "everyone" can be wearing a fashion "this Autumn" when it's still summer. Do consumer tastes and spending habits dictate what is "hot" or is it a plot by the advertising companies? As they move closer to finding the truth, Aidan and Berry must decide whether they are prepared to accept it.

Hitmakers is a fun children's novel which explores consumerism, advertising and marketing through a fun story. Author Sally Odgers has a reputation for producing well-rounded stories and this is one of them - educational, yet fun to read too.

Part of the Breakers series from Macmillan Education, Hitmakers is just as suitable for private reading as it is for classroom sharing.

Hitmakers, by Sally Odgers
Macmillan Education, 2004

Also in the Breakers Series

Deepwater Blues, by Claire Saxby
Eyes in the Paddock, by Sue Whiting
Worms! by Lyn Uhlman