Petunia Perry and the Curse of the Ugly Pigeon

Pamela Butchart's Petunia Perry and the Curse of the Ugly Pigeon is a laugh-out-loud school story for 9 year olds, told by a girl who is VERY sure her life is a disaster.

What happens

Peri (short for Petunia) has just started at a new secondary school called Fortress. She's writing it all down for us, and she talks to you the whole way through. There are little notes to the reader and she even tells you when to have a biscuit handy.

She's set up a band with her best friend Cammy. It's called The Spoons. Cammy plays homemade bongos made out of old tights (the leg bits are still dangling off). Then a girl called Cara joins on spoons, and she's brilliant, and Cammy thinks she's brilliant too. Peri is not quite so sure.

Who hasn't felt a bit left out when a best friend finds someone new? Peri's jealousy is funny, but it's also very real. She's keeping score of every in-joke those two share and it's making her miserable.

And then there's her mum. At parents' evening she tells the teachers far too much, including the story of Peri going to school without any pants on. Then she bids a hundred pounds for a painting of Peri as a unicorn, painted by a boy called Max. Now the whole school thinks Max is her boyfriend. Poor Peri!

Cammy's cat Margaret has her own starring role. Peri and Cammy are convinced she can see the future, and they keep a whole book of what her noises mean.

It's written in short, shouty bursts with plenty of CAPITALS and lots of NOOOOOO. The jokes come thick and fast, and there's a fair bit of crush talk about a boy the girls call Smile Boy. It suits readers who like their humour a bit silly and a bit cringey.

If your reader is heading towards the move up to big school, a lot of this will feel familiar. Friendships wobble, parents are embarrassing and everything feels like the end of the world for about a day.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, they might also like The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks. Lottie's best friend has moved to Australia just before high school starts, and her diary is full of cartoons and very strong opinions about her family.