The Lost Diary of Sami Star

Karen McCombie's The Lost Diary of Sami Star is a short, warm story for 9 year olds about a girl who feels invisible at home and picks up a stranger's diary from the grass in the park.

What happens

Hannah's family never stops arguing. Her big sister Vix doesn't want to go to university, and Mum and Dad won't let it drop. Doors get slammed every day. Nobody has noticed Hannah got the lead in the school play, or that she's finding Maths hard. "Hello? Am I invisible?" is how she puts it.

Her best friends aren't much help either. Since secondary school started, Robyn and Zadie spend their time on their phones picking apart other girls' clothes.

Then Hannah spots a sky-blue book lying on the grass. It belongs to someone called Sami Star. Every page has a photo of Sami's shoes or her hairstyle, a doodle, and a "Best thing about today" (one is all about her pug, Buster). Zadie throws it in the bin. Hannah quietly fishes it back out.

Some of the entries aren't so happy, though. Sami is being teased at school. She misses her grandad, who seems to have died. Hannah wants to find her, give the diary back and maybe make a friend who's a bit different. So she puts up posters, tries Sami's space buns and follows a clue all the way to a seaside fair.

It's really touching. You're right there with Hannah as she quietly decides she doesn't have to wear her hair the way Robyn says (up or down, nothing else!). And her sister Vix turns out to be lovely when it counts. That fair trip, with Vix covering her eyes at the top of the Ferris wheel, is one of the best bits.

The ending is exciting and a little bit scary, with a cliff edge in it, but everything comes right.

It's a quick read too. Seven short chapters and big feelings. Any child who's ever felt a bit left out at home, or noticed their friends changing, will get a lot from this one.

What to read next

If they'd like another McCombie story about a lonely kid and a puzzle next door, try The Mystery in Flat 6B. JoJo moves into a tower block with his dad and his pet rat, and a girl with a pack of chalks tells him a child is being hidden in the flat next door.