Two Is A Crowd - Cath Howe

Starting secondary school can be tricky but for Hattie it's even tricker as it seems her best friend is no longer in her class and is spending all her time with someone else.  On top of that, her mum's god-daughter, Seren, has come to stay and seems to be getting preferential treatment.  Hattie begins to feel that her family prefer Seren to her and her behaviour begins to spiral. 

Hattie really feels as though her world has been turned upside down.  She'd been looking forward to secondary school but her best friend seems to have been distant over the summer.  Then Seren's arrival knocks her even more.  Having lost her parents in a car accident, she lives with her grandfather, but now he's had a fall that has landed him in hospital and Hattie's mum has stepped up.  All of a sudden, things are changing: Seren gets her own room whilst Hattie has to share with her brother; Seren gets to eat what she wants whilst Hattie has to eat what is put down in front of her, and the family seem to be making allowances for her that Hattie just can't understand - poor Hattie feels really left out and just doesn't understand what's happening.  She's excited to start her new school so she can catch up with her best friend, Amber, but this all comes crashing down around her as well.  Desperate for attention, she begins to act out at school and suddenly finds herself constantly in trouble and isolated.  

I really felt for Hattie: all she wants is to feel wanted and she doesn't understand what's happening or why her family are behaving the way they are with Seren.  I'm sure there will be readers who will relate to Hattie, both in the changing nature of friendships, and also the desire for parents' attention. 

Cath has a way of writing books this is very readable and appealing to children whilst also conveying important messages that help readers to see themselves, and Two Is A Crowd is another superb example of this.  Seren has undergone so much and needs time to process this, but Hattie is too preoccupied with her own worries to see that. Family, friendship and finding your way all feature in this wonderful book that readers are guaranteed to love when it publishes on the 9th April.