Holly-Mei – The Not-So-Perfect Plan

Christina Matula's Holly-Mei The Not-So-Perfect Plan is a friendship story for 10 year olds about a girl trying to stop her group of friends drifting apart.

What happens

Holly-Mei moved from Toronto to Hong Kong five months ago. She has a field hockey team she loves, a flat looking out over the beach at Repulse Bay and a lovely gang of friends. Then the Christmas holidays arrive.

Everyone else jets off. Skiing in Switzerland, a cruise in Vietnam, Christmas in Australia. Holly-Mei stays at home and sends a cheery message to the group chat. Nobody replies. Back at school, Gemma hands out fancy chocolates from Japan and forgets to save her any. Her cousin Rosie spends every spare second with Henry. Ouch.

So Holly-Mei makes a plan. There's a tournament coming up between schools, with a relay swim, a trail race and the Dragon Dash, a team race right round the city following clues. If they all enter together, surely everything will go back to how it was? (The title might give you a hint.)

You're right inside Holly-Mei's head, and it's VERY relatable. She worries she's forgettable. She remembers the rainbow cupcakes nobody took back home. She has a habit of blurting things out, and her old friend Natalie has a certain tone for when she does. Anyone who's watched a friendship group shift around them will recognise it straight away.

There are some brilliant moments too. She practises her speech for Most Valuable Player in the bathroom mirror, and then gets called up for Most Improved instead. Her little sister Millie is forever baking something new. And her teammate Saskia has parents who push her so hard you'll feel for her.

Hong Kong is a big part of the fun. There's hot pho at lunch, White Rabbit sweets, bubble tea in Causeway Bay and video calls with Ah-ma back in Toronto.

It's the second Holly-Mei book, but Holly-Mei fills you in as she goes, so you won't feel lost.

What to read next

If they'd enjoy a move in the opposite direction, try Kelly Yang's New from Here. When the coronavirus reaches Hong Kong, ten-year-old Knox is sent off to California with his mum, brother and sister, while his dad has to stay behind for work.