I read it first to see what I thought - Harper is a great character. Clever, resilient and funny. Her friends (and her choice of friends) are nicely created and present a refreshing story in a traditional setting (school diary). The traditional context of the school diary worked well for my children as it made the plot, the characters, the jokes and the morals of the story entirely accessible and relevant to them.

The start of a relatable new illustrated series, all about embracing your family, and finding unique ways to deal with life's dramas. With the help of her real friends and her perfectly imperfect family, can Harper find the inner confidence she needs to stop trying to impress Maisie and just be herself? The father although loving is an overgrown child who never stands up to his wife or parents his kids, the mother has some kind of OCD/shopping addiction for sure because no matter what might be happening in their lives, she needs to burn a couple of hours every day in every kind of supermarket she comes across no matter what kind of state of exhaustion her children are (forcing five people to stay closed inside a car for hours so she can go shopping and going on holiday with nothing but bleach and canned food being two of the examples) - if this wasn't a middle-class white family, they would have child services called on them. These parents sure are something but I don't think it's funny.

Here are a few of our favourite illustrative pieces by Aleksei from this brilliantly funny project.

While the story is funny throughout and a great humorous read, it also brings up some great issues about friendships and even has some disability representation which I liked as the focus was on the character rather than their condition though it still played a part in the story. What's New, Harper Drew? introduces us to Harper's family and friends. Through Harper's diary entries, we are able to witness the ill-fated yet hilarious trip to France, her brother Troy's attempts at making a skateboarding vlog and the suspicious behaviour of her Uncle Paul (who is supposed to be a Hollywood movie producer though no one has ever seen any of his films). All this while Harper tries to get on the good side of the very popular Maisie Felix to bag an invite to Maisie's garden party. Ik wil de vertaler een groot compliment geven. De namen zijn vernederlandst, maar het verhaal is ook zo aangepast dat het zich afspeelt in Nederland. Dit liep allemaal vloeiend en ik ben geen inconsequente dingen tegen gekomen. Harper and her friends are planning a talent show to raise funds for the local food bank. When Troy does something stupid, it becomes even more essential for Harper that the talent show be a success. All this while Harper's dad tries (unsuccessfully) to mend the bathroom tiles, her mom develops a new obsession, her grandfather gets banned from the supermarket and...there's a python on the loose in the neighbourhood!Personally, I really enjoyed reading this book as it was full of humorous jokes and occasional illustrations.... Read Full Review Hoewel ik heel erg moest wennen aan de combinatie van herinneringen en gebeurtenissen van die dag, was het verhaal zeer vermakelijk. Lizzie brengt alles goed en er zit toch een diepere laag in het verhaal. Meanwhile plans are underway for the royal party in our neighbourhood with the prize for the best street and obviously we want to win! It’s just Kate Middleton, Priya’s cat, seems to be ruining all the table displays with her claws.

The book literally had me laughing out loud. Not only are the events hilarious but the writing is so witty, making an already funny situation even funnier. The illustrations are brilliant at both portraying the characters accurately and capturing the humour in the story. Harper herself is an endearing main character; she's smart, kind, thoughtful and funny. Her family members, friends and various other side characters are just as well crafted and even the very minor characters make quite an impression. She has worked on the music counter at WH Smith, been an investment banker, a waitress, a property developer, investigated missing millions for The Sultan of Brunei, founded a successful consulting business, worked for HM Treasury restructuring banks, oh….and cooked dinners at a care home for the elderly. But I need to focus on organising a talent show to raise money for the local foodbank. It’s going to be great … apart from the fact Troy seems to care more about gaining more followers, aka his “DesTroyers” on his YouTube channel, than he does about helping me out.But I need to focus on organising a talent show to raise money for the local foodbank. It's going to be great ... apart from the fact Troy seems to care more about gaining more followers, aka his "DesTroyers" on his YouTube channel, than he does about helping me out.

Author Anna Kemp introduces The Hollow Hills, the sequel to her dark magical tale, Into Goblyn Wood. Welcome to the totally hilarious and utterly daft life of Harper Drew and her VERY eccentric family – from her totally hair-obsessed would-be internet celebrity brother, Troy, to her Uncle Paul, who swears he’s making a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio (well, he’s got a red carpet at least). This book also successes in portraying people going through difficult patches being helped and supported by their loved ones and community without making the story too heavy, which I particularly liked to see represented in a story aimed at younger readers. Can Harper find a way to show her brother that kindness is more important than being popular? The second book of a relatable new illustrated series, all about embracing your family, and finding unique ways to deal with life's dramas. Harper and her brother face a difficult dilemma caused by Troy. They decide to host a talent show to resolve the problem. Troy enters the talent show…Will he win it? Read this book now to find out.De dagboekvorm zal veel kinderen aanspreken, de vormgeving, maar ook het gebruik van verschillende lettertypes. En de grapjes natuurlijk. Dad is highly accident-prone and gets Harper into more scrapes even with the best intention. And Mum is obsessed with bleaching every surface and going to…supermarkets. Yup. (Sounds a little like me on holiday 🤣💨) My biggest problem with this book was Harper's parents. I started this book laughing out loud at their scatterbrainedness because they had nice qualities and weren't abusive but after a while, all the gags that were supposed to make the reader laugh only made me cringe. All I could think was these are exactly the kind of parents, people write Reddit AITA posts about thinking it's a funny situation and get the kind of answers that tell them to go to therapy and surround themselves with better people. I mean, I understand Harper is a middle child just entering her teen years so of course she feels invisible and misunderstood but some of the situations that these parents put their kids in reeks of neglect. This is where the second level comes in - because author Kathy Weeks’ really wins on her witticisms. Harper “writes” these lines with an honest-to-goodness straight face. They’re hilarious and older middle graders and especially the writers will appreciate! Dit roze boek kan niet ontbreken in de boekenkasten van beginnende boekenwurmen. Lizzie stelt iedereen voor aan de hand van snoepjes, welk kind houdt nou niet van snoepjes?