Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Diary #2

Becky Bananas: This Is Your Life!

Rate this book
Becky Bananas is eleven years, nine months, three days and fourteen hours old and her great ambitions are: to visit the world famous Wonderland theme park; to star on the television program This is Your Life; to become a famous dancer -- and to be twelve. But Becky has another secret ambition that will make her twelfth birthday party very special...

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 17, 1997

Loading...
Loading...

About the author

Jean Ure

267 books122 followers
Prolific English children and young adult author.

Had her first book published while still in high school, then studied theater at Webber-Douglas in London. Her most well-known work is the Point Crime novel Dance with Death. Others include Plague 99, After the Plague (previously "Come Lucky April"), Big Tom, Family Fan Club and Shrinking Violet, as well as the fantasy The Wizard In the Woods.

Today, Ure is very popular with British female teenage readers with novels such as Shrinking Violet, Family Fan Club and Passion Flower.

Ure has also translated Danish writer Sven Hassel's WWII novels to English.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
69 (29%)
4 stars
68 (28%)
3 stars
66 (28%)
2 stars
23 (9%)
1 star
9 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Zain.
1,909 reviews293 followers
April 1, 2025
Some Sadness Involved.

This book is about a little girl. Her name is Rebecca Banares. She is eleven years old. Her best friend nicknames her Becky Bananas. And she is best friends with Susan.

Becky spends practically the entire time telling her life story in this book. She talks about how she is born. She talks about her father and his place in her life.

She sneakily mentions her little brother, Danny. And she discusses her Mother and her Uncle Eddie. She is very close to her uncle. She loves him very much and she loves her mother and her brother, Danny, too.

She is a special friend to Zoe. They have a lot of things in common. They both are sick and spend a lot of time in the hospital. Will these two girls get better soon? Will they get together? Will they be friends forever?


Four stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Profile Image for Maryam Abba Tor.
16 reviews
April 11, 2023
I read this book as a child and really liked it despite the sadness. I just read it again at 28 and it hits even harder for me now having lost a loved one. I can’t stop crying.
Profile Image for Katie.
6 reviews
February 23, 2017
Read this when I was younger and remember loving it sooo much. It is the book I always say was the first book that got me into reading - I don't know whether that is true but I know that I read it early on in my life. I remember loving the 'This Is Your Life' program on TV and looking forward to reading this book. It was so lovely and funny at the start and the end becomes so sad. I know it was the first book I ever cried at. I remember it having a real impact on me and loving the book.
For readers who don't like sad books the ending is not for you, but I do kinda tend to love sad stories, and this was the start of them for me.
I found it recently while sorting out stuff in my room and am strongly considering a re-read. I'll let you know if I get round to it. (I'm in the middle of a series atm).
Profile Image for Madeleine.
67 reviews
December 1, 2010
I guess this book was okay. Until the end it was a very happy book. And then boom! it gets very sad. It tells about what a wonderful life she has had so far. Until the very end, when it gets very sad. If you do not like sad books then only read the beginning and middle of this book if you are interested.
Profile Image for Diyanarahim96.
4 reviews
September 25, 2015
I know a lot of people don't like this book because of the ending but I do. It starts of about this happy girl n the story was very fun n all n then the ending come along spoilers (well not really) the ending is sad but I likes it because it really hits u in the feels n I like books that leaves u w them feels. I read this book when I was really young n this was the first novel that has an ending like this
Profile Image for Zoe .
132 reviews1 follower
December 12, 2019
This book was such a funny and happy book until BOOM! Something upsetting happened. Before that part, it was highly entertaining and that’s why I rated it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I would not recommend this book to anyone who detest sad stories because this one is VERY sad. It’s not the saddest one I’ve ever read but it is the 🥉rd saddest one I’ve read (after two Jacqueline Wilson books; Opal Plumsted and Rose Rivers) This book is so touching and I wish I believe in myself as much as Becky does. She is such a charming girl and she definitely lived an amazing life. This book really made me feel sad but we all have to know what is happening to people in this world . Thank you Becky for teaching me what you have.😔
9 reviews
October 2, 2011
Such a happy, easy, fun read and then it gets serious. It deals with a very tough illness and a story of a girl trying to beat it...
8 reviews
May 20, 2017
I liked the book! Writing style was simple! The story was short and had its crisp! You must read it!
Profile Image for Lucy Dawson.
478 reviews21 followers
November 27, 2019
Such a sad book about an 11 year old girl with leukaemia whose biggest goal is to reach her 12th birthday so she can go to Wonderland (basically Disneyland).
Unusually for a kids book, there isn't a happy ending and she dies 2 months before her birthday.
Very well written as there's subtle hints along the way that there's something not quite right and then 3/4 of the way through she reveals she has had leukaemia and that she was in remission but that it's come back.
I remember not really liking this book as a child as I found it boring but this is probably because I didn't understand.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kristina Watts.
177 reviews
January 16, 2020
This is one of those books from my childhood that sticks firmly in my mind. I read, and reread it again. A moving tale of a poorly girl.
Profile Image for Jane.
144 reviews3 followers
June 14, 2024
I knew what was to come, yet when I came to the end my heart sank.
Profile Image for Tendai.
16 reviews
August 7, 2012
I barely remember reading this but I think she's dying from something
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews