Kun Miinan koululuokkaan otetaan lemmikkirotta, joka karkaa käsistä, koko homma karkaa käsistä. Toisena päivänä koulussa esitellään jännittäviä esineitä, ja Miina päättää ryhtyä naapurustossaan arkeologiksi jokseenkin tuhoisin seurauksin. Sitten mummi kaatuu Miinan virittämään rosvoansaan ja joutuu sairaalaan, ja Miina järjestää kaamean kattikatastrofin.
Mutta mikään näistä ei ole oikeastaan Miinan vika: hänelle vain aina sattuu ja tapahtuu!
Joanna Nadin is an English author of juvenile fiction best known for the Rachel Riley series of teenage novels Based on Nadin's own childhood, the series follows the comedic narration of a 13-year-old girl.
Nadin has also written several books of juvenile fiction. These include two books for the Oxford University Press "Project X" series designed to encourage boys to read.
Nadin previously worked as a policy writer for the Labour Party (UK).In 2001, she became a special adviser to Tony Blair.
As a child I buried myself in books both at home in Essex and at my grandparents’ houses in Cornwall, where I spent a large part of my time, and where many of my stories are now set. Books and later films were an escape not just from where I was but who I was, which, as I saw it, was pretty much a geek. They gave me the freedom to become someone else, from George in the Famous Five to Velvet Brown winning the Grand National to Baby dancing the Chachacha with Johnny Castle.
Penny Jones is called Penny Dreadful by her father as she is a magnet for Disaster. Well meaning Penny tells 3 stories in this hilarious book about losing the class rat, taking a small 2 headed dinosaur skeleton to school for show and tell and trying to cheer up her gran in hospital by taking her cat barney to visit – all with disastrous results.
I loved the way Penny tells the story in great big long sentences hardly without a breath just like many under 10 year old girls do! Penny Dreadful is hilarious with great illustrations that add to the stories.
This was a delightful read. After a spate of reading sad / heavy / depressing books, this was just what I needed: a bit of humour and childish innocence to make me chuckle. I didn't love it as much as the Junie B. books, but it was similar: a child who attracts mishaps with a writing style that captures the child's slightly precocious but loveable tone of voice. I would certainly read more if they crossed my path.
Very much in the Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry vein, this is a collection of three short stories about a well meaning but over enthusiastic little girl called Penelope Jones, whose dad calls her Penny Dreadful when her exuberant exploits get her into trouble. They're a fun read, with great textual detail and some great black and white illustrations by Jess Mikhail. However, the lack of research about English schools irritated me; in 20 years as a Primary teacher I have never taken children on a "nature walk" as their only Science lessons, and Napoleon is not a major part of the KS1 curriculum. Also, Penny's verbal style comes dangerously close to Lola-ese. However, I can imagine children enjoying Penny's disasters, and they may encourage children just starting to read chapter books.