Emily Sparkes and the Friendship Fiasco - Ruth Fitzgerald


I began the first volume of the new Emily Sparkes series with some trepidation. Emily is 11 and it’s 10 years since I was that age. How much had Year 6 life changed? Would Emily’s life be full of technology? Would I be able to empathise with her? I soon found out the answer as I laughed and sighed at her misadventures. Emily is a wonderful character and her family and friends are all pretty realistic. There were many moments of primary school nostalgia and she doesn’t spend all her life online – the Internet is present, but not overpowering.

There isn’t much of a plot in this book. Friendship Fiasco is more a slice-of-life type story, following Emily over the first two weeks of her sister’s life. Emily has to deal with her best friend moving away, the bad influence of new girl Chloe and the dilemma of what her sister’s name should be. I liked this style, as it allowed me to get to know Emily and made for a light, relaxing read, without any high drama. I approved of how healthy Emily’s relationship with her little sister was as, in many books where a long-time only child is presented with a baby sibling, there can be trouble, which is totally understandable. However, it was great to see Emily’s acceptance of – and love for – the new arrival.

I love the physical appearance of this book, too. The cover is pretty, the artsy spine looks lovely on a shelf and there are illustrations on most pages. These are always of objects, never people, with the exception of the baby as Yoda (don’t ask!). In fact, there is next to no physical description of Emily or her family. For instance, it isn’t clear what ethnicity they are. I like this as it should allow a wide range of 11-year-old girls to identify with Emily. Perhaps boys will, too. Emily isn’t particularly girly.

This book may seem simple but it is actually quite clever when it comes to the big twists. I didn’t guess what the baby’s name would be – I thought I had been through every possibility, but I missed the name they chose. I was impressed that, at 21 and as a keen solver of mysteries in books, I had been outfoxed by one intended for kids. The second main mystery is why Zuzanna didn’t invite Emily to her birthday party, a move that caused a massive feud between them. Again, it was work out-able but it didn’t click and when all was revealed I was annoyed with myself for not realising because the clues are all there.

Overall, this was a lovely book. The moment I finished I picked up the next in the series to read as I didn’t want to leave Emily’s world! I recommend Emily Sparkes not just to 11-year-olds, but to anyone who wants a sweet, easy to read and smart story.


*This review was originally written for Cuckoo Review (New Writing North) and is reprinted with permission*

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