Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Reading Time
    • Home
    • Reviews
      • Highly Recommended
      • CBCA Short Listed
      • Early Childhood Books
      • Younger Readers
      • Intermediate Readers
      • Older Readers
      • ANZAC books
      • Great Read Alouds
      • Information Books
      • LGBTQIA+
      • Picture Books
      • Professional Development
    • Interviews
    • Suggestions
    • News
    • Meet The Review Team
    • Contact Us
    Reading Time
    You are at:Home»Reviews»Older Readers»Trouble is a Friend of Mine

    Trouble is a Friend of Mine

    0
    By Admin on October 7, 2015 Older Readers

    trouble-is-a-friend-of-mine

    Stephanie Tromly, Trouble is a Friend of Mine, Hot Key Books/Five Mile Press,  1 August 2015, 320pp.,  $16.95 (pbk), ISBN 978 1 4714 0485 6

    It’s hard to believe that this is Tromly’s first novel because it is so well written, so funny and the plot is so gripping and unpredictable. I was completely unable to predict in which direction Tromly would take her readers.

    If Trouble is a Friend of Mine fits into a particular genre, it would be a vigilante type, comedy detective story, if there is such a thing. However, it also lightly addresses the teenage dilemmas of bullying, making friends, making mistakes, unrequited love and family breakdown. School policies and procedures also get a drubbing, e.g. when arch-villain and long suffering truancy officer Mr Musgrave tries to get hold of a student’s attendance records but can’t because of policies relating to student harassment and teachers’ record keeping.

    The characters are delightful and, like the plot, unpredictable: no matter, how minor they appear in the plot they evolve in the most entertaining way. The main character is Philip Digby, a determined, brilliant, social oddity with an enormous appetite, who is investigating various crimes in his home town accompanied by his bewildered but willing ‘wingmen’. His latest recruit is Zoe Webster, a previously ordinary, melancholy teenager, who has moved next door to a factory run by a cult and whose mother is seeing a specialist that Digby mistrusts.

    There were times when I choked with laughter at the dilemmas that heroine Zoe found herself in because of her friend/vigilante pal Digby’s insistence on her cooperation.

    Trouble is a Friend of Mine is suitable for young people 14 and older, including quite a bit older. I am hoping that there is a sequel because I must know what happens to Digby.

    Reviewed by Katy Gerner

    Related Posts

    The Bravest Word

    Dirt Circus League

    Dark Rise

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • Themes
    • Curriculum
    Action adventure Airplanes Alphabet Anxiety autism Bullying CBCA Awards Coming of age Dystopian emotions family fantasy friendship grief Historical humour magic Mystery Post apocalyptic Readers Cup reluctant readers school Sci-Fi series of books siblings Sport Starting school Teacher Notes
    ANZAC Australian animals Australian history Biography Culture & Diversity Disabilities First Nations Geography health Humanities mental health Poetry Reconciliation resilience Science STEM Stolen Generation sustainability Wordless books



    Recent Comments
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Emily Flint on Walk of the Whales
    Recent Posts
    • The Bravest Word
    • The Ghost Locket
    • The Ghost Locket
    • Enough Love?
    • Wonderful Shoes
    Recent Comments
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Emily Flint on Walk of the Whales
    © Copyright 2021 The Children’s Book Council of Australia - All rights reserved

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Posting....