Ella Diaries: Friends not Forever by Meredith Costain

Ill. by Danielle McDonald. Scholastic Australia, 2016. ISBN 9781760157173
(Age: 6-9) Recommended. Friendship. School plays. This is the first in the series that I have read and I really enjoyed reading about the trials that Ella faced, not only in performing in the school play but in keeping a best friend. Two exciting thing happened at Ella's school - there was a new girl named Amethyst and there was going to be a school play about pirates. Ella and her best friend Zoe are determined to be in the cast for the play and spend a lot of time practising their lines.
Ella writes down the details of her life in her diary in a most entertaining and interesting way. The reader will have lots of fun following what is happening as she tries out for the school play, is side tracked by Peach's bad behaviour and comes to grips with the fact that Zoe is becoming friends with Amethyst. Her humorous and sometimes touching entries are accompanied by fabulous little illustrations that are sure to bring a smile to the reader's face.
The diary format will be very appealing and the themes of joining in a school play, getting along with siblings and working out the dynamics of friendship will be ones that young readers will find easy to relate to and enjoy reading about.
Pat Pledger