Ellie Foster's English Coursework by Tina Orr Munro

Ellie Foster's family holiday isn't going well. Firstly, she's not even with her family. Ok her mum's there, but that's it. Maybe the love child is related to her in some way but definitely not Trevor, her mums hippy boyfriend, or his other kids, maniac twins Sky and Blue. Secondly, she needs to find a boyfriend on this trip or risk being labelled a loser and having to spend the rest of her school life with yellow teethed Lucy Telling as her only friend. Worst of all, she's got to record the whole disaster in a diary and submit it as coursework or risk failing her English GCSE! Before she knows it she s making a fool of herself in front of a Greek God, batting off an annoying nerd, hiding from her crazy Gran, getting Trevor arrested, and dealing with the return-of-the-father. It's a wonder she has time to write down anything at all...


This book was very cleverly written. Ellie Foster is a teenage girl who is in trouble at school for not submitting her English Coursework. Faced with failing the course, she falls into a 'trick' by her english teacher to write a diary on her holiday to use as a piece of coursework.


The book is written in a diary format, with many text messages interspersed throughout the entries, over the fourteen days of her family holiday. As with many families, there is a new boyfriend for mum who brings along his own children and lots of disagreements and arguments are the way of the holiday.


Many issues faced by teenagers are covered in the book of first love; getting past 'base one' as well as embarrassing parents (and grandparents). There are plenty of times of humour, cringeworthy moments and times of 'I remember that feeling' while reading the book.


It is a quick read and would be great for teenagers. I would recommend it for teenage girls as a summer read. It would also be a great addition to a school library for high schools.


Thank you to Rickshaw Publishing for sending me the book to review.