Ella on the Outside

Cath Howe's Ella on the Outside is a thoughtful friendship story for 10 year olds about a new girl, a family secret and a queen bee who wants to know everything.

What happens

Ella has just moved house with her mum and little brother Jack. On her first day at Moor Lane School she's stuck in her mum's blue cardigan because the green uniform hasn't arrived. She feels like a grey fish round the edge of the playground.

She misses her best friend Grace terribly. She writes letters to her dad, too, who isn't living with them any more. Why not? That's the secret Mum has asked her to keep.

Then Lydia notices her. Lydia is polished and popular, and suddenly Ella is invited to her party and handed her sparkly pink shoes. It feels like a dream.

But Lydia is also the girl who gives Ella the wrong time for the party, and who is a little too sweet about her eczema. Ella can't quite see it. Your reader probably will! Watching Lydia at work is uncomfortable in the best way.

Then there's Molly. She sits alone at the back, never talks, and lives at number 13 behind drawn curtains. When Ella goes to buy Molly's old school jumper, she follows a white rabbit into a house piled high with furniture, and sees something she shouldn't.

At Lydia's sleepover, everyone has to share a secret. So Ella tells them about Molly's house.

Reading it feels like being inside Ella's head, with all her worries about fitting in. Her itchy, sore hands are part of that, and so is wanting the right shoes.

It's a gentle read, with nothing scary. It might be hard going for a child who has felt left out, or who has a parent living away, but it could also help them feel much less alone.

What to read next

If this one strikes a chord, try Cath Howe's How to Be Me, about a very shy boy who would rather hide behind the curtains than play the piano at his dad's party.