MG Takes on Thursday

This brilliant meme belongs to to Book Craic who hosts it on her blog here . Each week the aim is to celebrate Middle Grade books, those amazing books being written for 9-12 year olds. The idea is that you choose a book, post a picture of the cover and also show the publisher and illustrator. Then turn to page 11 and find your favourite sentence on that page. After that, describe the book in three words ( I always find this really hard) and finally, write your review or post a link to your review of the book. What could be easier especially as there are so many fabulous books being published at the moment?

This week I am celebrating Worst Holiday Ever by Charlie Higson

Worst Holiday Ever by Charlie Higson. Published by Penguin Books

My favourite quote from page 11 – I can’t wait to be grown up and not have to worry about everything all the time.

This book in three words: Funny, Disasters, Shyness

I am always on the look out for books to tempt my reluctant or less confident readers, many of whom are boys, so when I saw this by Charlie Higson, I had to get it.

It’s the story (told in the first person) of Stan’s holiday with his so-called friend, Felix. Stan has only been invited because all of Felix’s other friends already have holidays planned and he is convinced that going on holiday abroad, with people that he doesn’t know can only be a disaster.

The story goes through the arrival at the airport, the journey and the actual holiday all seen through Stan’s eyes in the same style as Wimpy Kid and several others. Stan is shy and hates being away from home and his mum and to deal with his anxiety, he makes lists. Several of these appear in the book but I really loved his Duck-it list, the exact opposite of everyone else’s bucket lists.

As the holiday goes on, Stan finds that the things that terrified him are less scary than he thought. He also begins to notice other people a lot more and realises that maybe adults don’t know everything after all.

I really enjoyed this book and I can definitely see it being enjoyed by some of my Year 6 who will really identify with Stan. It is definitely aimed at the 10+ market as there is some mild swearing and development of Stan’s romance with Jess (which he didn’t even realise was a thing until she told him). It’s light hearted and funny but also deals with some big issues. The main one is Stan dealing with his shyness and anxiety but the book also deals with different family relationships especially between Dads and sons.

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