An Urgent Message of Wowness

by Karen McCombie

Thirteen-year-old Heather has a perfect family. She thinks she is the only one who is slightly odd, with some quirky habits. Until … Her dentist dad comes home from work one day and announces that he is leaving them. This leads her perfectly elegant mother to “hibernate” in her bedroom for three weeks (only to emerge as a salsa-dancing rocker chick); her good-looking, brilliant, sports-playing 17-year-old brother to reveal his secret life as an eyelinerwearing indie band manager and her perfectly cute six-year-old little sister to turn feral, coached by the “Goth” who has moved in to her brother's bedroom. And suddenly, it's Heather who is the normal one. This is an honest, but bright and funny look at a family destroyed in a single moment. Like Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging — only younger, lighter and funnier — Karen McCombie's debut in the Canadian market will place her alongside Brit lit queen as Louise Rennison.

Genres: Young Adult, Childrens, Middle Grade, Kids, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

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

[Namratha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book purely for the Cover-Art. The summary was hardly informative, but the lovely shiny cover with it’s zany artwork and quirky title yelled out to the impulsive buyer in me. I am happy to report that the story was charming and wholly engaging.

Heather P. Smith is an imperfect 13-year old in a perfect family. Her handsome dentist dad, her elegant mum, her talented and stunningly good lookin’ elder brother Jo-Jo and her l'il fairy princess of a sister, Tallie make a circle of "wowness". And then there’s Heather, who is scruffy and prone to eccentricities and short-term hobbies. The one that has lasted longest is her habit of collecting abandoned soft toys from the pavement, washing them up and giving them a home in her room. The Wombat, as she calls herself has made her peace with her dreary existence, accepting the fact that she’s the abnormal glitch in her perfect family vehicle.

But then one day, her dad drops a bombshell. He is leaving home and the family, and in a flash, everything unravels. Suddenly Heather seems to be the only sane person in a house where everyone is coping with the shock in their own distinctive (and batty) way. Heather’s mum goes from staying cooped up in a darkened room to taking Salsa Classes. Perfect Jo-Jo is managing an Indie band, wearing eyeliner and providing shelter to a displaced Goth Girl who stores her vivid nail-polish bottles in the cheese counter of the fridge. Pink Princess Tallie has decided to embrace her feral side and has taken to punking up her teddy bear and doing quite a slap up job on herself.

The subject of separation and it’s far-reaching emotional consequences has been handled with some poignant thoughts and bucketloads of humour. The characters are zany and lovable for their distinctive shades of whackiness. In all a fun read and something that made me glad that I judged a book by it’s cover.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book :)
The first time I read this book was a couple of years ago, when I was in my tweens, around 12-13 ish. After reading 'Marshmallow Magic and the Wild Rose Rouge', also by MCombie, I kept my eye out for her other books. It was just my luck that around that time, my school was giving away free books for each year 7 student; and long story short, I got myself a copy of 'An Urgent Message of Wowness'.

I remember just how good it was the first time reading it. I'm sixteen next month, so it's been a while, but I definitely hope I'll get some time to re-read it again. My younger sister has had this book thrust in her face a couple of times (courtesy of myself), until she finally caved and read it too.
'An Urgent Message of Wowness' is just a brilliant book for younger readers, although I recommend anyone of any age should give it a try.

[Ailish]

Heather feels like the odd one out in her perfect family, one day her dad drops a bombshell and her world is turned upside down, suddenly, she becomes the normal one in her now topsy-turvy family, her once adorable little sister goes mad and there's a mysterious goth in her brothers room who puts nail varnish in the fridge...

I got this book in year 7 as part of a free book thing at school, I'm now in year 11... It took me a while to get to it, I pulled it out of my tbr jar.
I love how each chapter ends in an e-mail, it gives more of an insight into heathers cluttered mind, I'd say this is a good read if your around the age of 13, if you like the diary style stuff this is similar :)

[Alphenora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I did kind of enjoy it not sure if I'll read it again.

[Emiliano · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I liked the most about this book, was the way the author constructed the story.
Had a funny side to serious events.

It was a good one 👍

[hannah marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5

This book surprised me!! Its basically a 2000s teen movie in a book and I'm really surprised that I finished it and enjoyed it.
It was an easy read, and I enjoyed the slight cringe in the narrative.
If you want a quick and easygoing, slightly cringey, 2000s nostalgic read, this is it. It's not my absolute favourite book ever, but it was fun and laid-back.

[Soumya Kamatham · Rating 3 out of 5]

i picked this book from a library and started reading it only because i had no other book to read and the title was very quirky!
i like the way it was narrated and the little emails in the middle
i enjoyed the book!

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Its about this girl who started of weird and all her family were perfect but then when her dad left them she was normal and they are weird. It's really funny.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

i like this book because it really keeps you interested!

[Mariam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looks very good...i know people say don't judge a book by its cover but that's just me-but i read the blurb too!

[Leila · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending annoyed the hell out of me...

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this book when i was about 9-10 years old. such a cute book, i was obsessed with it and karen mccombie :)

[꒰აsavina໒꒱ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this review would be the perfect place to share this short story. I was 9-10 years old when I first read this novel, in my 5th or 6th year of primary school. I wasn’t as big a reader as some kids, but still, it was a dear hobbie of mine. Back then I remember scouring the school library book shelves for a book of choice, reading its entirety, returning it and then picking out another. This particular day this books spine stuck out to me and I took it home. I LOVED IT. The content was a little mature for me at the time, but I remember feeling warm and fuzzy inside by the end of the read. At the time my own parents had gone through separation and what felt like my perfect little family was suddenly crumbling apart. Years passed I forgot about the novel; until my memories resurfaced one day (sometime in 2011-2015) and I decided I needed to find that book. The only memory left was a colourful spine and cover, a bad dad and a goth girl. I searched and searched Google, (00s middle grade novels, family themes.etc.) until one day the infamous cover etched in my subconscious popped up once again. An Urgent Message of Wowness. For years I peroused thrift stores and libraries in hope I would one day come across a physical copy once again. Until about 2 weeks ago (14/07/25) in a local Newtown thrift store I saw it sitting there, as if waiting, just for me. I immediately snagged it, got home and began reading it. Thus, this story comes to an end.
Did I think this book would resonate with me now, the exact way it did as a young girl? No. But it did.
Did I realise back then how influential the content of this novel was and how it’s somehow been part of me the entire time? No. But it has been.
Do I wish I could go back and read this through my eyes as a child? YES. 1000% YES.

An Urgent Message of Wowness is incredible. I doubt that’s my childhood nostalgia’s biased opinion peeking through, because this middle grade novel is seriously good. With strong themes of family conflict/ separation, HEALING, acceptance, forgiveness, self discovering- exploration- reinvention and coming of age; this book packs a poignant punch for younger readers. Heather our protagonists; fun and quirky narrative creates the perfect space for readers to fall into while exploring these broader life themes. Always remaining positive, funny and purposeful in her storytelling.

As a young kid going through the same life
experience, I truly believe this book helped me on a subconscious level. It almost seems divinely timed, that I had read it at the time I had. Only now as an adult can I see the correlations between the way I accepted my own family conflict (much like Heather) in contrast to my siblings who never read much of anything. I wish that all young kids going through the same thing find books like this in their lives..I also see the way the Goth girl vibe stuck with me and has always had a real pull on my identity. The travel bug, the rock n roll, the love for music, quirky weird trinkets. There’s so much of my own girlhood packed within these pages and that’s really a testament to the authors writing, I’m so impressed. This book feels me with that magical glowing inner light that only childhood can spark, everything from the childhood friendship, teen magazines to break ups. I’m so grateful to finally have read it and loved it again, I had so much fun. This is the perfect young adult/ middle grade novel; that has that really unique 2000s touch you just can’t find anymore and has definitely withstood the test of time.

Quotes:
‘Oh that reminds me; I’m going to download a track Sylv was talking about, called “Swimming Horses”, by a band called Siouxsie and The Banshees. She says it’s very atmospheric. I kind of got the giggles though, wondering if the rest of their music was called stuff like “Jogging Cows” and “Skating Ducks”. I’m glad I didn’t say that out loud though, cause I know it’s not very funny- it’s just that I’ve got snit clogging up the humour part of my brain..’

‘Think how different war would be, if boulders and rebel forces were issued with marshmallow catapults instead of AK47s…’

PS: if this was a young adult novel, I would have loved to see her dad take accountability and apologise. But for young readers, this is a great first step. <3

[Shaunagh Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that it was an overall good book but one of the most important parts is too lightly elaborated so that is why I didn't give it 5 stars.

[Chloe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much internal dialogue, made my head hurt!

[Shahana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it in one go. This book will keep you engaged for sure.

[Apple · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so moving, and Karen McCombie really thought this book out. I love the fact that Heather's family changes so muc. Another thing was that there were so many unexpected twists in the book.

[jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Thanshee_azer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, different

[Lily Jessica]

An Urgent Message of Wowness

An Urgent Message of Wowness is written by one of my favourite authors, Karen McCombie. Her pre-teen/teenage books are an easy to read, enjoyable series. I have never been disappointed by any of Karen's books so far, so I had a expectation for this book to live up to. I can say that it did live up to it.

An Urgent Message of Wowness is about something that many families go through, the divorce of parents. I think that because my parents are divorced, I could somewhat relate to Jo-Jo, the main charters older brother.

This book shows what its really like for a family during a tough time of divorce. The family are completely muddled up after their dad leaves and Heather, the usually awkward family member, finds herself to become the completely normal one in the family during her parents divorce.

I liked how this book showed an age range of family members and different ways they coped with the stress of their parents splitting. I also liked how this book is an easy read, it took me no longer than three days to read. The font is also quite large, so that is a bonus for anybody that struggles to read small print.
During the first bombshell I felt that the suspense leading up to it was intense. This is something I like as it keeps you hooked onto the book!
The cover art on this book is also nice and eye-catching.

The thing I liked most about An Urgent Message of Wowness is that it interoperated comedy with a tragedy. Another thing I adored about this book is all the unexpected turns it took. That is something I always look for in a book, does it move me? Does it make me surprised? This book ticked all of my boxes.

I would recommend this book to age twelve and up.
Somebody who wants a quick enjoyable read or maybe somebody's who family is going through/has gone through divorce, I think this book would make you feel normal because you are not alone!

All in all I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Lily Jessica.

[Nilo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic novel about perfectionism on a wider scope and pretenses. I loved it, it was another one of my middle school favorites. I remembered reading and rereading it and being sucked into the mayhem. Heather was a brilliant and honest character, and while her world and her family always appeared better than her, she remains the same, before and after, and only has to witness the terror of the revolving events occurring. Amazingly, her father's actions were brutally ridiculous, and painful. Her mother's reactions were sorrowing and dark. Her brother and her best friend and every single person in her life appeared to evolve during the course of the book, and this taught me more about perfectionism and the fallacy of it. I love the cover of both this book and "Marshmallow magic and the Wild Rose Rouge" and they both reeled me in - by plot, by character, by cover and everything combined.

[Sylwia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book used to be one of my faves in high school! I swear I've read this book like 30 times. When you're in high school and experiencing various phases and stages of becoming a teenager, Heather is a completely relatable character. Heather seems to have the fixed impression that everyone in her family but herself is perfect, but after her dad drops a bombshell, her life turns upside down. Everything and everyone is changing. Suddenly, Heather feels like maybe she's not the odd one out anymore, maybe she can finally fit in with her own family?

[Ashlet · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a nice book. but the end really didn't really seem convincing to me. who was nina? how come her dad left her family for just other pretty woman(and yeah i do know she was pregnant). i know this wasn't the kind of book that should be turned into a novel, but still i had lot of doubts even after finishing the book. and i will surely punch anyway who will say," we won't know who nina is, the suspense remains!..."

[Loopylou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like books that speak to you; this book really does it connects to your real life many people get divorced and find someone else it takes many weeks , months even years to get over something that is important to you. Some parents leave because they find someone else but the still love the people that they leave behind. This book is very much like this.

[Natalya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for free when I was in Yr 6 and never had the time to read it. I finally finished this book on my holiday. I really enjoyed this book as well as Karen McCombie's style; making her stories realistic and relatable yet enjoyable. With it's short blurb but amazing cover art it entices you to read on and you won't be disappointed!

[Candycloud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Like most of Karen McCombie's books, I was not disappointed. I absolutely LOVED Sylv. And Tallie. I loved the little emails at the end of each chapter - I thought that was great. I especially loved the chapter names. So funny - just like the Ally's World series.

[Steff S (The Bookish Owl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending seemed incomplete but I absolutely loved Sylv! A goth character who is portrayed well is such a rarity, she was friendly, intelligent, caring - she wants to be a marine biologist - and she listens to the right music, Siouxsie and the Banshees as opposed to Marilyn Manson :)

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

i felt every thing while i read this book and it flew accross the room several times, lolz

[Calista Millar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this!

[Lois Brewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but takes you a while to get into it