The Sisters 8 5 – Marcia’s Madness

Lauren Baratz-Logsted's Marcia's Madness is a funny, mysterious family story for 6 year olds about the one sister nobody expected to cause trouble.

What happens

The Huit girls are eight sisters with one shared birthday, all seven years old. Their parents disappeared on New Year's Eve. Ever since, the eight sisters have been running a huge stone house on their own, with eight fluffy cats, a robot called Betty and a talking fridge. Nobody outside must find out.

Each sister gets her own month to discover a special power and a gift. May is Marcia's turn. Marcia has always been the calm, scientific one. Surely she'd never go wild... would she?

So when the bills go missing on the first of the month, it's a shock to find Marcia has paid them all herself. Perfectly! Then she puts on the Daddy disguise and drives the Hummer into town for groceries. Then she asks for a vote on who should really be head of the family.

Annie, the eldest, goes purple with rage. Which is very funny to read, and also very real. Anyone with a brother or sister will know that feeling of someone else doing your job better than you!

The story is told by all eight sisters together, as one big "we". It's a lovely way to hear them squabble. Petal worries about everything (and faints). Rebecca is rude to everyone. Zinnia thinks she can talk to the cats. Now and then the book itself pops up to talk to you, too.

At school there's a surprise new teacher, who tells them to spend the weekend studying "everything". And Marcia keeps getting headaches, while her cat Minx covers her eyes with her paws. What's going on?

It's the fifth book about the sisters. A quick catch-up at the start fills in what happened before, so a new reader can jump in.

There's a quietly sad moment when Mother's Day comes round with no Mummy to celebrate. A more sensitive reader might want a cuddle there. Mostly, though, it's daft and warm and full of mysteries.

What to read next

If you'd rather start at the very beginning, Annie's Adventures is where the sisters first find themselves on their own.