The Awkward Autumn of Lily Mclean

Lily McLean #2

by Lindsay Littleson

Lily's hoping to put all the madness of the previous summer behind her. Telling people you hear voices doesn't win you many friends. Especially when you're starting high school. Especially when everyone thinks you're just like your troublemaking big sister. At least Lily's best mates Rowan, David and Aisha will stand up for her. But when she finds nasty messages in her locker, Lily knows someone's out to steal her friends and leave her all alone. Lily hopes a fun trip to the Isle of Arran will bring her friends together, but soon those dramas seem like the least of her problems. Back home, her big sister's in big trouble: She might end up in jail -- or worse. The last thing Lily wants is to start up that weird psychic stuff again, but it might be her only hope... Spend the autumn with Lily in this beautifully written, laugh-out-loud sequel to Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlister The Mixed-Up Summer of Lily McLean by Kelpies Prize winner Lindsay Littleson.

Genres: Middle Grade

192 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2017

Reviews

[Mady · Rating 4 out of 5]

The follow up adventures of Lily McLean as she starts secondary school, with her best friends from primary school and her new friend Aisha, whom she’d met over the summer.
Somehow the school setting made this one a more interesting book than the first!

[John Fulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily McLean is back! And her life isn't under any more control than it was during her mixed-up summer adventures. She's started secondary school, which is traumatic enough, but someone is leaving her nasty notes, her best friend seems to be drifting away from her, her mother has a new boyfriend who is both bald and boring, her brothers have elevated being annoying to an art form, and worst of all there's something (very) serious going on with her big sister.

It's all a bit much for one girl.

As if that wasn't complicated enough, she's still affected by the mysterious phenomenon that saved her life during the summer - when she thought she was going mad and hearing voices.

A trip to Arran provides a break from the stress, but the holiday turns sour right away. And Lily's so far from her big sister - how can she help her? Can a mysterious voice save her sister, just like a mysterious voice saved Lily during the summer?

Like its predecessor, the Awkward Autumn is a loving depiction of the everyday struggles of a not-so-ordinary girl, and her relationships with her large, mad, family (every one of them a bit of a character) and her friends. Lindsay Littleson writes so well in Lily's voice that you feel that you're right inside her head, travelling with her on her emotional journey.

The twin mysteries of the nasty notes and what Lily's sister is up to are carefully entwined, and both are resolved in a very satisfactory fashion.

The only question remains - what's Lily going to get up to next? A Discontented Winter? Can't wait to find out!

[Stephanie Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book. Really made me wish I was a young teenager again. I adored reading then and this was the exact kind of book I liked to read. Really funny and compelling and an easy Young Adult novel to read. Good job.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a dull ending

[Tahira · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't to my taste. Theres not much to say and i also forgot about most of it.

[David McAdam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book