By: Julie Murphy
Genre: YFQ - Humorous stories (Children's / Teenage)
Published by: Harper Collins Publishers
Published: 24 Sep 2019
ISBN: 9780062977267

Description

Patricia “Sweet Pea” DiMarco wasn't sure what to expect when her parents announced they were getting a divorce. She never could have imagined that they would have the “brilliant” idea of living in nearly identical houses on the same street. In the one house between them lives their eccentric neighbor Miss Flora Mae, the famed local advice columnist behind Miss Flora Mae I.


Dividing time between two homes is not easy. And it doesn't help that at school, Sweet Pea is now sitting right next to her ex–best friend, Kiera, a daily reminder of the friendship that once was. Things might be unbearable if Sweet Pea didn't have Oscar - her new best friend - and her fifteen-pound cat, Cheese.


Then one day Flora leaves for a trip and asks Sweet Pea to forward her the letters for the column. Sweet Pea happens to recognize the handwriting on one of the envelopes. What she decides to do with that letter sets off a chain of events that will forever change the lives of Sweet Pea DiMarco, her family, and many of the readers of Miss Flora Mae.


Review

Patricia ‘Sweet Pea’ lives in Texas and she has just found out that her parents are getting a divorce as her father is gay. Her parents have also decided to live in near-identical houses in the same street with only Miss Flora Mae, the local advice columnist living in between them. But when Flora goes away and asks Sweet Pea for help, it sets off a chain of events that no-one could have seen coming...


This is a wonderful lower secondary novel that deals with divorce, change, friends and growing up in a superbly written and positive way.


Readers will instantly relate to Sweet Peas dilemma’s with her ex-best friend and her new best friend, as well as the difficulties of making sense of all the changes that are happening around her. This is a funny, heart-warming story that will best appeal to girls in lower secondary.


Reviewed by Michelle