The Catastrophic Friendship Fails of Lottie Brooks

It’s Lottie Brooks’ second term at Kingswood High and she feels better prepared for the banana skins that life at school tends to throw in her path.

She will no longer let the mean girls upset her. She will not burble incomprehensibly in front of the boy she really likes. And she will most definitely not embarrass herself; either in public or on social media. At least that’s the plan.

But with BFF Molly back from Australia, can Lottie juggle new friendships with the old? Can she impress dreamy Daniel by excelling in the role of a singing crab? And can she manage the competitive side of new bras and first periods, even though she seems to be lagging behind the other girls?

Written in the form of a diary, Lottie’s musings show how awkwardness is essentially a learning experience and almost no one gets through their teenage years without at least a few mortifying moments.

It’s hard not to laugh out loud when Lottie accidentally sticks her face to her pillow with marmite, toothpaste and honey, and the hilarity is multiplied by simple illustrations in the form of stick figures with speech bubbles. Perfect for fans of Louise Rennison.