Squishy Taylor and the Bonus Sisters by Ailsa Wild
Ill. by Ben Wood. Hardie Grant Egmont, 2016. ISBN 9781760126759
(Age: 6+ - Independent readers) Recommended. Themes: Family -
Step-families; Relationships; Homelessness; Forgiveness. Squishy
Taylor is in a newly blended family, learning to deal with her
laid-back father's divided attention, an absent Mother, a Step
mother and her twin daughters and the young baby brother they share
with Squishy. It takes a shared secret and a few poor decisions to
bring the Bonus sisters together, but first they go through a
fraught settling in period. A young runaway boy and a grumpy next
door neighbour (and a bit of misguided revenge) assist to bring the
girls together and to learn to see the benefits of having bonus
sisters and living in a blended family.
This will be a new series involving Squishy (yes, it is a
nick-name!), who is sometimes inclined to bounce against the
boundaries, and will fit nicely between Billie B Brown and
the Go Girl series for young readers.
Carolyn Hull