Book by JEAN URE

Becky Bananas is eleven years, nine months, three days and fourteen hours old and her great ambitions are: to visit the world famous Wonderland theme park; to star on the television program This is Your Life; to become a famous dancer—and to be twelve. But Becky has another secret ambition that will make her twelfth birthday party very special...

The third title in Jean Ure’s acclaimed series of humorous, delightful and poignant stories written in the form of diaries and letters which make them immediately accessible to children. This is the story of how Mandy learns to cope with her untidy life and finally emerges triumphant. Mandy Small has trouble writing so Cat, her teacher, suggests that she tells her life story into a tape recorder. So begins Mandy’s funny and sometimes sad story of life with her loving but chaotic parents – Dad, the Elvis look-alike, and Mum, whose idea of a special meal is burnt toast! Then there’s school, where the horrible Tracey Bigg picks on Mandy and her timid friend, Oliver, not to mention Old Misery Guts, the landlady and Nan, who thinks that Mandy’s parents aren’t fit to look after her. With so many things to worry about, Mandy begins to think that she’s in danger of turning into a real Fruit and Nutcase! Mandy’s story, told in the form of diary into a tape recorder, is a funny and often moving account of a child’s everyday life, with all its difficulties. Hilariously illustrated by Mick Brownfield.

The fourth title in Jean Ure's acclaimed series of humorous, delightful and poignant stories written in the form of diaries and letters which make them immediately accessible to children. Jean Ure perfectly captures the lives of ordinary children - but no child is ever ordinary, and certainly not Salvatore d'Amato - or Sally Tomato, as he's sometimes called. He's out to get a girl and he has a he's going to write some Disgusting Ditties - one for each letter of the alphabet, and start some secret body-building, too. That way he's bound to attract someone. (But he doesn't want his sister to know his plans...) Whether it's Sal Tomato here, Mandy Small in FRUIT AND NUTCASE, Cherry in SKINNY MELON AND ME, or Becky in BECKY BANANAS, their lives, with all their ups and downs, is presented with courage, humour and tenacity. These are special children who any child can relate to and will draw inspiration and hope from their stories of their lives.

The fifth gloriously funny and poignant book in Jean Ure’s series of ‘secret’ diary stories. Lily and Violet are twins – physically identical but quite opposite in character. Lily is brash, up-front and in your face. Lily Loudmouth, her dad calls her. Violet is timid and shy. She lives very much in Lily’s shadow – a shrinking violet. Finding it difficult to make friends, Violet finds the perfect solution in Katie, her new pen pal. Soon the two are writing at a fast and furious pace and become very attached to each other. That is, until Katie suggests that they meet…

Who wants to be one of three? And who wants to be the middle one of three? Polly is stuck in the middle, with a beautiful, fashion-conscious older sister and a high-achieving younger brother grabbing all the attention. Polly wants to be the one to get noticed, the one to become a famous actress, the one who is thin. But when Polly decides to take drastic action to shed pounds, she loses more than just weight.

The seventh title in Jean Ure’s acclaimed series of humorous and poignant stories. There’s trouble ahead when Steph and Sam’s father embarks on a spot of kidnapping. Of course, Mum shouldn’t have thrown the frying pan at Dad. The day after she threw it, Dad left home… Parents! First they’re together, then they’re apart. For Stephanie, a hip fourteen year old, and Samantha, her ten-year-old sister, being stuck in the middle of their parent’s problems is just what they need. Not. When Dad decides that what the girls really need is a summer holiday with him in Brighton, they jump at the chance. No rules, no hassle, no worries. But things never turn out the way you think, and Steph and Sam soon discover there’s a lot more to being a family than they thought… Jean Ure’s diary series includes: Pumpkin Pie, Shrinking Violet, Skinny Melon and Me, The Secret Life of Sally Tomato, Becky Bananas, This is Your Life! and Fruit and Nutcase.

Megan and Annie are bright 12-year-old girls, who are desperate to meet their favorite author, Harriet Chance. When Annie makes contact with Harriet's daughter via an Internet chat room, the girls are ecstatic. Lori helps them to arrange a secret meeting with Harriet, and the girls congratulate themselves on being so clever. But when they meet the author she's a bit strange. Why does Megan seem to know more about the author than she does herself? Why does Harriet seem so edgy? Is this really their favorite author, or are the girls in real trouble?

Another brilliant story containing comedy, calamity and cool characters by acclaimed writer Jean Ure. Even though Tash and Emily go to a nunnery (well, an all girls' school, which amounts to the same thing!), they are into boys in a BIG WAY. They're also stepsisters and the hugest of best friends. So when their mum and dad have to go Peru for work for a couple of months, leaving the girls in their own flat in Aunty Jay's house, they are seriously excited. Of course they've got to take their weird elder sister, Ali, hundreds of her Star Trek videos and Fat Man the cat, but apart from that they are INDEPENDENT GIRLS. And when they find out that there's a dishy boy living in the flat downstairs, they just can't believe their luck…