The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks; Katie Kirby

The first in a hilarious new series from Katie Kirby, the creator of the ‘hurrah for gin’ blog.

Eleven-and-three-quarter year old Lottie Brooks lives with her mum, dad, gross brother Toby and two pet hamsters. Just about to start high school, her life is one gigantic mess. Her BFF, Molly, has moved to Australia, her hair is boring, she probably has the wrong pencil case and she definitely does not own a bra.

Determined not to be a total loser in high school, Lottie hatches up a plan. She will reinvent herself, gain confidence and be one of the cool kids that everyone wants to hang out with. Brilliant, what could possibly go wrong…

Lottie navigates the difficulties of growing up in this hilarious and completely relatable TOTALLY SECRET PRIVATE DIARY. There are dilemmas and dramas, highs and lows, and plenty of LOLs as Lottie goes from one embarrassing scenario to another as she deals with bras and boys, body odour and bullies, friends and farts, periods and puberty. All of this without her best friend, seeking support and advice from her two hamsters and trying to deal with an over eager mum who is more than happy to talk about the ‘journey into womanhood’.

Like many children who are dealing with the transition between primary and secondary school, Lottie is anxious about fitting in and just wants to go to school, make friends, to not eat lunch alone and to be known by her actual name. Life isn’t that straight forward though and by the end of the first day at high school she has made zero friends, went bright red a lot, got laughed at even more, ate a cheese sandwich on the toilet and is known as KitKat Chunky.

Friendly, open and honest, Lottie quickly invites you into her life and she soon becomes your new BFF. I was cringing with her, I was laughing with her and I was empathising with her as she tries to deal with the trials and tribulations of day to day to life.

Katie Kirby delivers plenty of funny moments whilst dealing with the real issues that pre-teens face and provides brilliant messages about ultimately being yourself, not doing things to please others and being kind. Witty, bang on point and perfectly written for pre-teens, the diary style writing makes for an easy read and the stick-figure drawings, WhatsApp conversations and Instagram posts are all brilliant.

If ever there was a book for girls in the last year of primary school and preparing themselves for secondary school then this is it.

Recommended for 10+.