Changes

As well as these fabulous characters, there’s a sweet plot, a lovely message about making friends which is never hammered home too obviously, and a warm, engaging writing style which hooks you in straight away. It’s also wonderfully unpredictable, even the parts which seem straightforward at first – a bestselling author basing her three characters on her three daughters is fairly common in children’s fiction, but one of those characters turning evil and getting killed off must be much rarer! In addition, it’s one of the funniest books I’ve read for ages – I was struggling to contain my laughter virtually every time Tinkerbell said or did anything, while ''ex-merminate'' should win the Word of the Year award. And if, by some oversight, there isn’t a Word of the Year award, someone should set one up just to give it to ''ex-merminate''.

Another modern author whose tales of family are unmissable is Hilary McKay. Her [[The Exiles by Hilary McKay|The Exiles]] is one that girls, in particular, from eight to eighteen shouldn't miss. You might also appreciate [[Max Kowalski Didn't Mean It by Susie Day]].,