Phoebe Finds Her Voice

Anne-Marie Conway's Phoebe finds her Voice is a warm school-and-family story for 10 year olds about a girl who loves to sing, as long as nobody's listening.

What happens

Phoebe Franks is nearly twelve and starting to hate Woodville Secondary. It's big and loud and she still gets lost. Polly Carter has been picking on her since September. Her best friend Ellie seems to have swapped her for Sam, the loudest girl in the year.

And Phoebe has gone shy. Not a little bit shy either. She's so shy that sometimes the words won't come out at all.

At home things aren't much easier. Dad has moved out, Mum is worried about the electricity bill, and they end up shouting whenever he drops the girls back. Her little sister Sara is reading her tea leaves (she's sure Phoebe's life is about to change).

Then Miss Howell, the drama teacher with a new hair colour every week, starts a Saturday drama club called Star Makers. There'll be a musical, The Dream Factory, and the main character Sabine gets a solo. Phoebe wants that part SO much. But how do you sing in front of everyone when you can barely whisper your own name?

It's told by Phoebe, and she's funny about everything, even when she's miserable. Her pop idol Donny Dallesio seems to give her a thumbs up from the poster on her bedroom wall. She tries to learn his "Razzle Dazzle" smile from a magazine and it comes out looking like a nasty disease. And her ex-neighbour Monty B turns up at drama with his hair accidentally dyed bright red, calling her by her old nickname.

The home stuff is handled gently. The rows are there, and so is Phoebe hiding under the covers until Dad leaves. There's also a lovely scene where Dad and Sara shut their eyes on the sofa, holding bowls of popcorn, so Phoebe can practise her song.

If your reader has ever frozen when everyone turned to look at them, they'll be rooting for Phoebe from the first page.

What to read next

For another of Anne-Marie Conway's girls keeping a lot squashed inside, try Tangled Secrets. Maddie has just lost her nan and is struggling to be heard at home, so it starts on a sadder note, but it has the same honest, chatty voice.