The Day My School Got Famous
by Jen Carney
Interest age: 9 to 11
Reading age: 9+
Published by Puffin
About this book
Ferris’s new foster brother, Nile, creates mess and chaos wherever he goes. Ferris feels bad for him that he’s not with his mum and brother, but he’s driving him mad!
When an unexploded Second World War bomb is discovered under their school, they’re forced to spend more time together at home, and Ferris can’t sit and draw peacefully.
Also, Ferris is worried that his beloved younger foster sister will be adopted by another family, while all Nile wants to talk about is the bomb. Can the foster brothers find a way to exist in peace?
Funny and moving, with characters underrepresented in children’s fiction – children whose family fosters, and those who go into kinship care. (Nile and his brother end up living with his uncle – kinship care – which is the best long-term outcome for them.)
Ferris is very relatable and learns, along with the reader, that everyone, no matter how annoying, deserves understanding. You never know what tough times someone is going through.
Full of comic strips and cartoons by the author, and with an easy-to-read font, this should look appealing to easily daunted readers. It is the sequel to The Day My Dog Got Famous, but you can read it without reading the other first.
More books like this
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The Day My Dog Got Famous
by Jen Carney
9 to 12 years
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The Accidental Diary of B.U.G.: Sister Act
by Jen Carney, illustrated by Jen Carney
6 to 12 years
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The Accidental Diary of B.U.G.: Basically Famous
by Jen Carney
9 to 12 years
-
The Accidental Diary of B.U.G
by Jen Carney
6 to 12 years
Lists of recommended reads
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Books with family and friends looking after children
It's important that books reflect contemporary society, and that children see a variety of family situations in the stories they read. Some families don't have a mum or dad in the carer or parental role. Sometimes grandparents or uncles or aunts are looking after the children. This can be called 'kinship care' or 'family and friends care'. This selection of fantastic books show children living with family members who aren't their parents, although that is usually only the background setting, not the plot.