Lottie Brooks’s Totally Disastrous School-Trip

Lottie Brooks's Totally Disastrous School-Trip by Katie Kirby is a funny diary story for 10 year olds about orange hair, two crushes and a residential trip that's getting closer by the day.

What happens

The summer holidays are nearly over and Lottie is stuck indoors with sunburn. She looks like a fire engine (her words). Her friends make plans without her and Dad and Toby can't stop making jokes about her being well RED.

Things don't really improve. Amber talks her into fake tan and a home highlighting kit, and it does not go well. Lottie ends up with orange skin AND orange stripy hair (please don't let it give anyone ideas).

Then there's the boy situation. Daniel is barely speaking to her since Amber told him all about Antoine, a French boy Lottie met on holiday.

Antoine's emails are a joy. His brother Hugo translates them, badly and probably on purpose. Every time Antoine eats Brie, he thinks of her "fine facial features".

As it's literally her diary, you get the jokes and the worries in the same breath. One minute she's eating Weetos off the floor with her toes to prevent bunions. The next she's worried Daniel is cross with her and she's made a massive mistake.

There's a quieter worry too. A new girl called Isha joins the class, and she and Jess both LOVE football. Lottie thinks football is one of the dullest things ever. Anyone who's watched their best friend click with someone new will know that funny feeling inside.

And then there's the trip. Her class is off to Camp Firefly over half-term for raft building, abseiling and drama. It's the longest Lottie has ever been away from her family, and she's half excited, half nervous about it (she'll miss Mum quite a lot and Toby not at all).

With a title like that, who knows what's coming? If your reader has a residential of their own on the way, they'll probably recognise that excited and wobbly feeling.

This is the fourth Lottie Brooks diary and it picks up right at the end of her summer holiday. New to Lottie? The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks is the place to begin, so the friendships all make sense.

What to read next

If they're after another diary with crushes, friendship drama and a heroine who loves to draw, try the first Dork Diaries book, Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life. Nikki is the new girl at a posh school, and the meanest girl in the year has the locker right next to hers.