Frankie, Peaches & Me

Stella Etc. #1

by Karen McCombie

Stella, along with her mum, dad and mildly mad twin brothers, has just moved from buzzy London to the sleepy seaside town of Potbay. Not only has she had to leave her best mate Frankie behind but she's also kissed goodbye to Seb - only the guy she's ever liked. Still, Portbay's got its own charms; they might just take a little discovering...

Genres: Childrens, Young Adult, Contemporary, Middle Grade, Friendship, Teen

218 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Karen McCombie is a bestselling author of children's and young adult novels, and has had more than 90 books published. She is the author of the much-loved series 'Ally's World' (early 2000s) and her most recent books include the Carnegie-nominated historical adventure 'Little Bird Flies' (2019) and it's newly published partner novel 'Little Bird Lands' (2020, Nosy Crow Books), plus the 'St Grizzle's School' series for younger readers (Stripes). She has several books publishing in 2021.
Originally from Scotland, Karen lives in London with her husband, her teenage daughter and beautiful but bitey cat Dizzy.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Make sure you've got a lot of time available! You won't be able to put this book down! Frankie, Peaches and Me talks about this girl Stella who's just moved from busy, bright London to boring, old Portbay. She hates it! And how can it get worse? Well, her friends lost touch too and seem to be hiding something from her...then one of her best mates Frankie comes to visit her in Portbay and tells her all that's been going on (even though she really didn;t want to! - you'll see why (if you read the book!!)...This book is so funny and Karen McCombie is such a good author..She makes the book sound so real..!

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will always love this series. I used to read one a week, every summer and now I can read the whole lot in a day. The magic never wears off!

[Bee]

I love this series so dang much.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

**GENERAL REVIEW FOR THE SERIES**

As a result of my devotion to McCombie's "Ally's World" series, I was very eager to read these books, to the point that I had my da order them for me online at a time when that wasn't really a thing. They weren't exactly easy to get my hands on. To this day, I'm still waiting to get voted off the island. Oh well.

I remember really enjoying the dynamic in these books between Stella's pursuit of new friendships, helping people in their hour of need, and trying to discover the history of her ancestors and how they connect her to the small, seaside town of Potbay.

The sad thing is, I'll never know how it ended. I never managed to get my hands on the seventh book. I eventually moved on to other books and by the time I saw it in a Waterstones while on holiday in Spain, I had outgrown the series and didn't bother. I also gave all of my Ally's World and Stella Etc. books to my younger cousin. A teeny tiny part of me regrets that now for the sake of my childhood and the fact that you simply don't see the books in shops anymore.

McCombie's books are highly recommended for the 9-12/13 age group and reluctant readers, serving as an excellent gateway to the wider world of reading.

[Madlenka · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last time I visited my local library, I started to feel a bit nostalgic about all the books I used to read & love when I was younger, and all the series from that time I never finished because I grew up. Karen McCombie was my most beloved author at that time, and I was very lucky to find all 7 books in Stella etc. series there. My summer can officially start, because they haven't got any worse! They are still incredibly fun and even sort of heart-warming (but that's probably just me now).

[Next on my list is Ally's World which I used to love even more!]

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelent. Good plot to the story. I would recommend it to ages 9-13

[Lucy Jenny Parkes · Rating 1 out of 5]

My bff says this book is completely rubbish.

[izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay so i feel kind of like it's cheating to add this to my reading challenge so i might change my mind later and edit the dates. but. yes this book is for children and no i am not rereading a childhood favourite or anything. well actually kind of??? used to have the second book in this series on audiobook and i listened to it ALL the time it was one of my favourites and i always wanted closure on how the rest of the series ended so i bought the books on ebay like a year ago and now i am finally going to read them so i will FINALLY find out what happens :D but also they are genuinely enjoyable books like i would love to live in portbay and have a little shed that a famous local woman used to use as an art studio and be able to visit an old mansion that she used to live in the 1800s with her best friend who was a freed slave from barbados absolutely insane like i would like to live stella's life fr!! she gets to go to the beach everyday she has a free cat that smells of peaches and cream and she has this beautiful and historically interesting coastal town to explore all day every day. the stuff of dreams and also very nostalgic to me

[Anisa Nr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku ini menceritakan tentang stella yang harus pindah rumah ke portbay dan dia harus meninggalkan sahabat-sahabatnya,frankie,dan seb.bagaimanakah kehidupan stella di portbay?
menurut ku di buku pertama ini alur nya cukup lambat dan ceritanya agak membosankan di bagian awal,tapi setelah dibaca terus-menerus rasa bosannya berkurang,jujur aku membaca buku ini lama bangett karna pas aku baca bagian awal aku belum tertarik dan gak aku lanjutin bacanya,tapi setelah beberapa waktu kemudian aku melanjutkan buku ini,aku memberi rating 4 bintang untuk buku ini karna dibuku pertama ini ceritanya belum terlalu seru.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was scared that after ten years it's not going to be as amazing as I remember. But I loved it so much. My connection to Stella was and is so big I can't believe it. When I was a kid I LOVED the parts where she explored The Joseph's house, his history and the story of a young lady Elize and a young black server Joseph in the 19th century. 😍

[robin ní dubhchonna · Rating 3 out of 5]

stella lowk annoying but im rlly invested in this little town
ive had this book since i was 7 and have reread it about 50 times since then just cuz i love the seaside town vibes so much. will be reading the rest of the series idc

[Terence Gape · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this is rubbish

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books as a pre-teen!

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

A teen read

[Tessie Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stella a ... byly knížky mého dětství.Byly zajímavé,vtipné pro teenagerky rozhodně to pravé.Oblíbila jsem si hlavně paní Lepkavou Karamelku a Broskvičku. ;D

[Favour Okoh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice book

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

still love this series all these years later 🥹

[Holly Eastwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute book about friendship and new adventures!

[~Emma~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good little bit boring I personally don’t like Frankie she’s kinda mean:/
Would recommend Lottie Brooks if you liked this☺️☺️💅🏼

[Eve L-A Witherington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leaving behind London and her friends Lauren, Eleni, Parminder, Neisha and Frankie, thirteen year old Stella finds herself living in a house thats worse for wear while her twin younger brothers Jake and Jamie destroy her stuff.



Oh yeah and the boy of her dreams, Seb finally kissed her on the cheek at her leaving party!



Portbay or Portbore as Stella dubs it on arrival is by the sea and their parents chose it to be hopefully more stress free as her dad's job was causing him to stress out.



She meets Peaches, the town wandering cat named after his natural sweet smell and ginger fur whom loves eating custard creams and a psycho seagull who likes cakes as Mrs Sticky Toffee feeds him them! Besides the crazy animals, Stella discovers an old art studio in their new house's garden and as she loves to draw caricatures it's an ideal new den for her...



There's also a mystery around who her grandfather is and the mystery house at Sugar bay called Joseph house after a servant boy...



At least best mate Frankie is coming to stay even if her friends haven't been texting or calling or even emailing her... Then Stella discovers the reason and is quite shocked...



The book has many important points at heart from friendship, to patience, suffering with a stammer and shyness to moving to a new town as a young teen and having to face making new friends and trying to fit in even if you stand out at first. It's light hearted and fun with plenty of crazy characters but also a mystery rooted into the plot intriguing us to reading on for plenty more.

[Mirella Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ini serial bagus. Meskipun saya dah umur kepala 3, dah punya anak, tetep hobi baca teenlit dan menikmati baca serial ini.

Latar belakang ceritanya sederhana, tentang kepindahan keluarga Stansfield dari London ke kota Portbay di selatan Inggris. Pindah dari kota metropolitan ke kota kecil yang tidak dikenal tentu saja membuat Stella Stansfields, cewek berumur 13 tahun merasa tidak betah dan kesepian. Apalagi Stella meninggalkan sahabat-sahabatnya di London sana : Frankie, Neisha, Parminder dan Eleni. Plus meninggalkan Seb cowok yang sudah ditaksirnya selama setahun ini.

Buku pertama berkisah 2 minggu pertama kehidupan Stella di Portbay, di mana pas akhir minggu pertama dia kedatangan Frankie.

Selain kepulangan Frankie ke London, Stella akhirnya mendapat teman baru -Peaches- kucing gemuk berbulu jingga yang menguarkan harum bau Peaches. Dia bertemu pula dengan nenek berjas hujan hijau limau dan topi pink. Nenek ini sering muncul tiba tiba di dekat Stella dan menawarkan Stella permen toffee. Makanya Stella menyebutnya Mrs TL alias Toffee Lengket.

Pun di buku pertama ini, Stella mendapat hobi baru, yaitu menyelidiki rumah jadul yang diberi nama Joseph's House. Kebetulan, Joseph - asal mula nama rumah tua ini, berasal dari Barbados, negara kepulauan di Hindia Barat. Kakek Stella -Grandad Eddie- juga berasal dari negara ini.

[Amanda O'Donnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stella’s family have swapped a brilliant life in London for a sleepy seaside resort where the biggest thrill is a psycho seagull. How is shy-girl Stella going to fit in to this freaky little town, especially without her best friend Frankie?
Then – with a waft of peaches and cream – things start to get interesting...

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, plus there was a slight *!!!SWOONOER!!!* in it! And guess what? He has that lopsided smile that Edward always does, bonus! Hehe. It's kind of sad at the end thought because Stella likes him but she finds out that her best friend Frankie has actually liked him for juust as long and she's dating him! I'd reccomend it.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book and didnt put it down! Stella relates to me when i moved away but not so far from london. Overall I would give this book 10/10. And Im going to start to re\ad the rest of the Stella etc. books.

[Palsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

baca buku ini sambil siap2 belajar gimana caranya ngadepin abege...13 th itu berarti 2 tahun lagi untuk sulungku, 4 tahun untuk bungsuku yang kadang2 bahkan terlihat lebih tua 3 tahun dari umurnya. jadi memang harus mulai alert nih...

[Laura Mockeviciute · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite funny :)

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frankie peaches and me is an amazing book! i loved it.
Karen mc'combie was already one of my favirout authers but she has really acceled herself
in this book.

[Diego Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baru tahu kalau cerita anak 13 tahun sedewasa ini. Maklum aja ya, terjemahan. But, it's kind a good book to read to young adults. :)

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fave childhood series

[XHoney_Hutcherson_Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOL so funny