Read The Sisters 8 8 – Zinnia’s Zaniness free for 7 days. £7.99/month after - less than a paperback.
Zinnia's Zaniness by Lauren Baratz-Logsted is a funny mystery for 6 year olds about the youngest of eight sisters finally getting her turn.
The Huit girls are octuplets. They've been looking after themselves since their parents vanished on New Year's Eve, with help from a talking fridge called Carl, a robot who never does as she's told and a suit of armour they call Daddy Sparky.
Each sister gets a month, and in her month she's meant to find out her magic power and receive a special gift. Seven of them have had theirs. Now it's August, and it's Zinnia's turn at last.
The trouble is she can't freeze people, turn invisible or shoot fire from her fingertips. All she can do is talk to cats, and she says she's always been able to do that. Her sisters laugh at her. (They admit straight away that one day they'll regret it.)
Meanwhile their friends Pete and Mrs Pete take all eight girls, nine cats, the suit of armour and a dressmaker's dummy on holiday to the Seaside. Not one hotel will have them! They sleep on the beach under the stars and end up renting a shabby cottage at the very end of the sand.
The whole book is told by the sisters together, as "we", and they bicker beautifully. Petal worries about everything (what if a box of juice falls on her head?), Rebecca is rude to everyone and Annie brings a packing list on a clipboard.
A mysterious note leaver keeps finding them wherever they go. Who is it? The prologue is written by the note leaver, who teases the reader with hints and still won't give a name.
It's very much a series book. The prologue lists all seven powers and gifts so far and assumes you remember how each sister got hers. Starting here would work, but it's a lot to catch up on.
The girls still don't know what happened to their parents, and Rebecca does wonder out loud whether they died. It's mentioned and moved past quickly, and the jokes carry straight on.
The humour is quick and wordy, and it's even funnier shared out loud.
If your reader hasn't met the Eights yet, start on the night their parents go out for firewood and eggnog and never come back, in Annie's Adventures.
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