Synopsis: Bella has just moved into a new house. It’s old and dark and she’s sure there’s a ghost in the attic! But things look up when she meets her new next-door neighbour Magda. Magda is lots of fun! She’s bubbly and full of imagination and can even turn cartwheels! Soon they are best friends.
But Magda is also trouble! She breaks Bella’s mum’s best tea set, wrecks Bella’s room and covers the whole living room in soot. And somehow makes sure Bella gets the blame for everything.
Bella is going to have watch out because there’s Trouble Next Door!
Release Date: 12th January 2017
Genres: Middle Grade, Friendship, Family, Illustrated
Pages: 144
Review: When Bella’s family move to the country side she doesn’t want to be there, but soon everything changes as she makes a friend next door called Magda, who causes trouble and makes Bella seem like she’s the one doing it all.
I liked bits of this book such as the children they were all really fun characters and worked off each other really well. The mischief they got up to was really funny and amusing, Magda always had something up her sleeve and was never still for long.
I liked that over the time Bella learnt to love living in her new home and was no longer upset by being there, she adjusted quickly because she’d found a friend and it got her settled in.
What I didn’t like was her mum, she was rude and cruel and didn’t even ask her daughter what had actually happened, just assumed it and blamed her. Which is so wrong and odd especially as she kept saying she was normally so good. It seemed odd to have her mum say that but then treat her so rudely. It became very off putting unfortunately.
I really liked the illustrations they were so cute and I loved that you could see all of Magda’s somersaults even in the illustrations, so clever and really great to see. This is a really good, fun and easy read.
About Author: Chris Higgins started her author career writing for teenagers and young adults. She has won a number of awards including Young Minds, the Lancashire Book Award, the Lincolnshire Young People’s Book Award, the KYBA, and she has been shortlisted twice for Queen of Teen. In 2012, Chris turned her hand to writing young fiction. Her My Funny Family series was published with great success with the first book being selected for Booktrust’s Bookbuzz scheme.
Chris Higgins has four daughters and is rapidly acquiring a whole bunch of grandchildren even though she feels far too young to be a granny. She has travelled the world extensively and now lives in West Cornwall with her husband.
About Illustrator: Emily MacKenzie is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
apapergirlapapertown 