My Big Birkett by Lisa Shanahan
What a lovely, funny book!! For an author whose experience is in writing for younger children, this YA novel has a freshness about its style that is thoroughly enjoyable.
Briefly, if such a book can be summarized…Gemma is a 14 year old trying to find her own place in the world. At the start of the book her older sister has just become engaged to a boy that she has known for only a few weeks. But Debbie never does anything by half measures. Gemma gets dragged through all the wedding preparations, up to and including being flower girl in a swan costume. At school Gemma has fallen for a boy who doesn’t even know she exists, and to get near to him she decides to audition for the school play. She promptly gets paired off for rehearsal with the school freak. And a birkett? Well that is the Stone family term for a massive temper tantrum. Debbie and her father regularly indulge.
This book is a lot of fun. And those familiar with The Tempest may find literary allusions. What is it about Shakespeare? (See my review of Macbeth and Son.)
