The Fix-It Friends 6 – Three’s a Crowd

Nicole C. Kear's Three's a Crowd is the sixth Fix-It Friends story, a school and friendship book for 6 year olds about what happens when your best friend finds somebody new.

What happens

Veronica Conti is an optimist. When her mum says "We'll see" about the trampoline gym, Veronica hears "You betcha" and starts planning.

Her eighth birthday is in March and Cora is helping. Cora has been helping with her parties since kindergarten. She is organised, she is responsible and she loves holding a clipboard.

Then Margot arrives from California. Orange hair, zips up both sleeves, a bulldog called Bernie and a silent T on the end of her name.

Veronica does everything right. She writes a welcome poem. She invites Margot to lunch, to tag, to the party. She's a professional helper, after all.

Then Cora starts swimming lessons. Then she eats school lunch, which she has always hated. Then the two of them turn up in matching shirts, Gogo and Coco.

Nicknames. What do you even do about nicknames?

That's the bit your reader will feel. Nobody is being unkind. Cora just keeps changing her mind, and nobody thought to check with Veronica first.

Veronica tells you all of it herself, which is very funny and not always fair. She calls an emergency meeting without Cora. She borrows her mum's old motorbike jacket to out-zip a zip enthusiast (it does not go well).

Her big brother Jude and his friend Ezra have been here before. They tell her about the year Jude got a new best friend and Ezra shoved him over at break. Wise words from two boys eating artichoke nachos.

If you've got a child who has watched a friendship rearrange itself in the playground, this will land. Being left out is a small thing and an enormous thing at the same time.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Recess, second grade, moms and a Power Pout from the toddler sister. Your reader won't trip over it, but you'll hear it reading aloud.

It helps if they've met this lot before, because Veronica is much more likeable once you've watched her actually fix something.

What to read next

The first Fix-It Friends book is in the library and it's about Maya, who is so frightened of bugs that she won't play out at all. Veronica is seven there and just as sure that every problem has a solution.