Shades of Scarlet

When Scarlet’s mum leaves her dad for a new boyfriend (surely an act of unbelievable selfishness) she’s furious. Her dad's not even putting up a fight, which makes Scarlet even more convinced her parents are deeply disappointing people. The final straw is when her mum gives her a beautiful red notebook to write her feelings in - Scarlet just knows that’s only so her mum can sneakily read it. What a cheek.

Now Scarlet has to help her parents deal with their stupidly messy lives and all the trouble they’ve brought upon themselves - but no matter what she tries to do, she just seems to make things even worse! 

Anne Fine perfectly captures the feelings that all teenagers go through at some point, when they realise their parents are flawed individuals that don’t have much of a clue about how to deal with things. It’s the perfect novel for young teens and Anne Fine yet again manages to climb into the skin of a teenager and understand how it feels to be one. It’s a very funny book (Scarlet is a very amusing, witty girl), and full of insight about friendships, families, divorce and growing up and what that really means. An absolute triumph of a novel, with a few nods to Jane Austen’s Emma.