Glow up Lara Bloom

Lara Bloom is captain of the school football team, best friends with Anaya, Becky and Kayleigh, and top-notch at embarrassing herself. Just before Year 10 starts, Lara bumps into a new boy, Caiden – and he’s GORGEOUS. But he’ll never be interested in her, especially with the beautiful Sienna draping herself over him at all times. Coincidentally, Lara and her friends decide they’re going to do a glow up this term, though obviously not for a boy, that would be silly. (OK, it’s sort of for a boy.) They are going to have goddess energy, queen energy, supermodel energy and independent woman energy. Cue lots of rituals, embarrassment and laughter. At least Lara’s online diary is secret…

And so begins Lara’s journey towards attracting Caiden, and to accepting herself as she is – football skills, flat chest, big hair and all. Set in Liverpool, with a Black protagonist who’s brilliant at football but can be ‘girly’ too, this is a refreshing addition to the various tween and teen diaries that are so popular with upper primary and lower secondary readers.

With many slapstick moments and lots of great friendship scenes, this comical, heart-warming story is a lot of fun to read.