Karen McCombie
(Scholastic)
This title is Booked Up 2009’s “girly” offering. Last year we had Cathy Cassidy’s “Scarlett” and the year before the fantastic “Saffy’s Angel” by Hilary McKay.
The story follows Heather, the middle child in a family. She feels out a place in her family where, according to her, everybody is fabulous in their own way: her big brother is a pin-up, her little sister a princess and her parents are perfect. Or so it seems. When her dad drops a bombshell by announcing he is leaving, everything falls apart. And soon Heather realises that her family are not so perfect after all, and that being “ordinary” is not always such a bad thing after all.
There are a lot of chapters but they are very short (it is not written in the format of a diary but often feels like one) so the book actually reads really quickly.
What this book does well is dealing with the confusing feelings that children might feel when their parents split up: Heather’s brother and sister reject their father but Heather cannot bring herself tohating him but at the same time feels guilt towards her mother for wanting to see her dad.
Apart from that I must say it did not “wow” me. It was ok and the writing is fluent but I didn’t find it particularly funny and it certainly does not stand out in its genre.
The story follows Heather, the middle child in a family. She feels out a place in her family where, according to her, everybody is fabulous in their own way: her big brother is a pin-up, her little sister a princess and her parents are perfect. Or so it seems. When her dad drops a bombshell by announcing he is leaving, everything falls apart. And soon Heather realises that her family are not so perfect after all, and that being “ordinary” is not always such a bad thing after all.
There are a lot of chapters but they are very short (it is not written in the format of a diary but often feels like one) so the book actually reads really quickly.
What this book does well is dealing with the confusing feelings that children might feel when their parents split up: Heather’s brother and sister reject their father but Heather cannot bring herself tohating him but at the same time feels guilt towards her mother for wanting to see her dad.
Apart from that I must say it did not “wow” me. It was ok and the writing is fluent but I didn’t find it particularly funny and it certainly does not stand out in its genre.
Still I am in no doubt that it will be very popular with year 7 girls and I am sure I will get plenty of orders for it.
do ya know what i think of this book i think it is plain boring i have to read it for homework i dont like it at all 🙁
I loved this book i am doing a book report on it. i especially can relate to it. I love it and thank you very much Karen Mccombie!