Review: Maggie Moore and the Secret School Diary

While Maggie's life is a little more dramatic than a normal child's life, it's a fiction book and I think that the events in the book - from the family gifts to the talent show - will keep younger readers engaged. It's amusing, easy to read and doesn't get boring. The little sketches in throughout are also quite cute, and the bubble writing for the months in something I remember doing as a child so it seems pretty authentic. This is a definite must have for younger female readers (or male readers if you think they can relate, there's no lovey-dovey eyes at boys so there's no reason why boys can't enjoy this book)!

Book Summary (from Amazon)

Follow Maggie’s hilarious adventures over one school year. She gets the worst part in the school play, her world record attempt goes disastrously wrong and as for her act in the talent show, well, let's just say she didn't expect underpants to fly out of her trumpet and land on the judge’s face! Still, at least she has her three best friends, and her diary.

Review

When I saw Maggie Moore and the Secret School Diary by Firna Rex Shaw I thought it would be like Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, but for girls. As I help out in schools (sometimes specifically with reading) with children about the target audience age, I decided to give this a read. I found this book more relatable than Diary of a Wimpy Kid - maybe because I'm a girl? I really enjoyed it, though I would have liked a little more depth. I think it's good for children to feel like their own emotions are normal, so reading a fictional diary can be really helpful. That's probably the only reason I would have liked a little more depth in this book.

I do have one little issue with the book and that was the farm episode. The missing guinea pig is not explicitly found in the book, and I wouldn't want children to think it's okay to lie about a missing animal and then lie some more! Maybe I'm just over conscious of the impact literature can have on children... Since posting my review the author has updated the book to make it explicit that the guinea pig was found!

While Maggie's life is a little more dramatic than a normal child's life, it's a fiction book and I think that the events in the book - from the family gifts to the talent show - will keep younger readers engaged. It's amusing, easy to read and doesn't get boring. The little sketches in throughout are also quite cute, and the bubble writing for the months in something I remember doing as a child so it seems pretty authentic. This is a definite must have for younger female readers (or male readers if you think they can relate, there's no lovey-dovey eyes at boys so there's no reason why boys can't enjoy this book)!