Eva's Holiday by Judi Curtin (Children's, 10 years +, 10E/10E)

29th August, O'Brien Press

256 pages, Paperback

Review copy 

Themes: summer holiday, circles of friends, accepting differences, protection special things, lies, growing up, becoming a better person, standing up for beliefs, mystery, relationship with parents, close knit village community, lots of humour, some tissue moments. 

Summary from Frances Lincoln

I thought Mum was joking when she said that we were going to spend five weeks of the summer in a cottage in the country. How was I going to survive for five whole weeks without my best friends, Ella and Victoria? To make things worse, we had to bring Mum's friend totally annoying eight-year-old son with us. To make things even worse again, the cottage was a total dump, and was exactly in the middle of nowhere. Then, when we got to the cottage, it turned out that the only neighbour was a girl called Sam, who looked like a boy, and who seemed to want to be my friend. It was like my worst nightmares had just come true. 

Nayuleska's reasons for loving Eva...Eva is what I call a little madam with a kind heart. Slowly she learns to be less judgemental and to find fun in everything. 

Is there another character who deserves a mention? Kate is more my kind of girl, who keeps her problems hidden and who wants to save the world. She's a good influence on Eva. 

How evil/nasty is the enemy? A man with a chainsaw can be a threat, but the more people who stand up to him, the less scary he is. Mean girls don't need chainsaws - they are mean enough with their mouths. 

Are there lots of plot twists and surprises? The end was quite easy to guess, but I liked the little twists the story took in making Eva a better person and giving Kate some love. 

One of my favourite parts was...when Eva kept agreeing to do things with Kate, even when she didn't want to. Deep down she knew Kate was nice. 

I give this enlightening read 10E/10E

You can find out more about Judi's other books on her website). 

Suggested read

Check out another book by Judi, Friends Forever: The Time Spell (Children's, 8 years +, 9/10E)