Gr 1-3-In Secret Club, Tamsin Reilly meets three girls on her first day in a new school. Ivy and Nina are immediately friendly, but Casey seems upset and Tamsin thinks she doesn't like her. One afternoon, she notices that all three girls have matching anklets with the letters "SS" dangling from them and learns that they have a club called "Secret Sisters." All ends happily when she is accepted by the group and becomes a member. In the second book, Gemma is excited to be on a gymnastics team in spite of the hard work. After an embarrassing vault attempt, she accidentally kicks her coach in the face, giving him a bloody nose. Later, she finds herself doing extra strength training while her teammates finish their workout with some stretching, and she feels that she is being punished. Soon, she discovers that she is getting stronger, and it is showing in her routines. Both books are simple in language and story structure, making them accessible to young readers who are making their first foray into chapter books and good choices for reluctant readers. The girls are of no specific age or grade, which helps make the books seem relevant for a wider audience, but it doesn't leave them with much character development or personality. Oswald's cartoon illustrations represent scenes from the stories and include small dialogue balloons. Mediocre series fare.-Bethany A. Lafferty, Las Vegas-Clark County Library, NV Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.