But there was one day I looked forward to all year: World Book Day. World Book Day meant costumes and games and reading. It meant talking, all day, about my favourite thing: books. For a day, my classmates and I became witches, wizards, kings, and queens. We could become someone else. The book contains excellent disability, LGBTQ, young carer, and sausage roll/pizza/Maccy D’s representation throughout. Jokes aside, so many positive elements feature casually and as the norm (as in life, and as it should be). This is exactly the kind of writing we need for children today, funny, bold, inclusive. Initially reluctant to be without her BFF, Edie argues with the school, but as Oscar begins trying out new hobbies, making new friends, and even getting a girlfriend, Edie begins to wonder if she had been allowing her disability and her reliance on Oscar as an excuse not to push her own limits. When an unexpected opportunity presents itself, Edie discovers that she has previously unrecognized talents and interests, and even begins to make some new friends of her own, but can she do it all without losing her best friend in the process? I'm now very annoyed that I convinced myself a few months ago that the financially responsible decision would be to not buy the second book when I saw it in the bookshop, and to wait until I'd finished the first instead, because I NEED THAT BOOK IN MY HANDS RIGHT NOW.

I love that the book is written in diary format, it feels like you are right there experiencing it all with Edie and not just viewing her life from a distance. The story is laugh-out-loud funny, with great one-liners and comments that make you think ‘yep, because it’s TRUE’! There is just the right amount of angst and cringe, it is fully relatable to teens/pre-teens. I think it is cool how Edie changes Scrooge to be a woman because I think it helps her get into the character much more than she ever could If she played Scrooge as a man. When Edie falls out with Oscar, I believe this is where she gathers her independence that she has during the ending of the book. During the argument with Oscar is when I think Edie gains a lot more ambitious behaviour which leads to the change in gender of Scrooge. You've probably heard this already, but just in case you haven't; Edie has cerebral palsy, just like the author of this novel, Rosie Jones. You're probably seen Rosie around if you're into any of the comedy panel shows; she's often on Dave or the BBCs, being really quite extraordinarily funny. Her humour translates beautifully into this book. I admire this book because it is the first book or film that I have seen that includes a character that has cerebral palsy. Edie has Cerebral palsy, but she's used to it because she's spent her whole life being a bit wobbly. She can't wait to start secondary school with her best friend Oscar and share sausage rolls with him at breaktime. But when Oscar scuppers these plans by getting his first ever girlfriend, GROSS, Edie eventually decides to stop feeling sorry for herself and find a boyfriend, so she can prove to Oscar she's grown up too. She muses: 'when Thor was stripped of his power and banished to Earth by Odin, did he mope around and throw his hammer out of the pram? No he got on with it, bossed around Earth and found love like an absolute legend'.But while she’s plotting her reunion with Oscar, she accidentally gets cast as the lead in the school play. As Edie discovers a passion for performance, she also finds new friendships, talents, and dreams. After all, it’s easy to shine on and off the stage when you’re Amazing with a capital A. I love the little bits of information we get as well. For instance, I didn't know that cerebral palsy is non-degenerative...I thought you could get worse with it over time. I'm glad to have learned a new fact!

This is the first book I have read where an entire family is shown to be accepting of LGBTQ+ people from the beginning of the story. A lot of books centre around self-discovery and coming out, but this story explores family and community relationships. Bea’s older sister is especially unhappy with the move, so in the hope of cheering her up, Bea desires to bring Pride to their new home. Without a support network, life can be extremely isolating, especially in a remote community. As a child of the countryside, I welcomed the exploration of LGBTQ+ identities outside of an urban setting. Written in diary format with awesome illustrations by Natalie Smillie, the story follows Edie - an eleven year old girl from Bridlington, Yorkshire, as she starts secondary school. Edie has cerebral palsy, a great family, a best friend called Oscar, and a positive, sunny disposition. As a massive fan of Rosie Jones, I was super excited when I saw that she had released a children's book. Even more excited when I found out that the central character of said book would have cerebral palsy. The disability that Rosie Jones lives with. I love that the main character in the story has cerebral palsy, as there is definitely not enough representation of disability in fiction, but more importantly, her CP is part of who she is but not what the story focuses on. The heart of the book is Edie’s struggle to uncover who she wants to be, how she wants to relate to other people, and to understand and balance her conflicting feelings – relatable to anyone, of any age.Note: This book will be illustrated. My copy didn't have illustrations included, so I can't comment on them fully, but I've seen sneak peeks that look great. We also meet some other girls, Georgia was eventually pretty nice but dang that girl needs to understand that there are some things you shouldn’t say. XD Poppy was such a sweetheart. LOVE IT! Wat mij betreft een must-have qua thematiek. En fantastisch lekker geschreven voor en vanuit kind/tiener(perspectief).

Mr. Murphy motivates Edie by saying that her performance is not as good as it could be, and as an actress Edie practices until she is the best she can be. I think that it was a good idea because after that conversation Edie works extremely hard practicing her performance to prove Mr. Murphy wrong about her performance skills. I received a free ARC of this book, with thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*I would recommend this book for everyone, including parents/teachers/adults of all kinds. There are excellent jokes that will make you giggle too, Clare Balding and Alan Carr both feature (lol), you’ll have to read the book to find out more! This is a charming series and Edie is a wonderful star of the book. It’s beautiful and important to have such a lovely and loveable main character with cerebral palsy that everyone can relate to. Edie is wobbly - and life can get wobbly when you’re growing up - but that doesn’t stop her! Same-sex relationships are also explored sensitively, as is the changing relationships with old friends when you start secondary school. Great for fans of Jacqueline Wilson and this is a particularly great book for children either about to start or just started secondary school. It’s funny, and the diary format makes it extra relatable plus it’s easy to read. If readers are coming straight to this second book in the series that won’t be a problem either. Moving On Up is subtitled "Beat the bullies, make fearless friendships and deal with funny fails", and the publishers promise the "ultimate school survival guide for 9 to 11-year-olds".

I didn’t really like Oscar throughout the book because as soon as Edie branches out and finds an interest for her that doesn’t involve him, he becomes quite unsupportive. I think this is quite mean because Edie supports Oscar with his football training and matches. I really like the character of Flora because she is not afraid of being who she is around other people. She is also not scared to stand for what she believes in. I like how she influences Edie to try new things even if it is reading a DC comic instead of a Marvel comic. I found the debate on fictional heroes funny because it would be a normal thing to do with your friends (to have silly debates over nothing). Edie is an average eleven-year-old girl; she has a loving family and a best friend named Oscar who shares her love of sausage rolls and Marvel films. She also has cerebral palsy which makes her a little wobbly, more likely to fall over, and a little slower at talking. Edie has always relied on Oscar to help her out – he even carries a special box around with him that includes plasters and spare tights – but at their new school they are put into separate classes and Edie realizes she won’t always be able to rely on him anymore. I think this series is going to do really well, and I'll be here to cheer Edie (and Rosie) on with every volume.

The Amazing Edie Eckhart: The Friend Mission

It’s the start of Year Eight and there’s a new girl in Edie’s class from America! Edie can’t wait to get to know Mia and her twin brother, Benjamin. This is Thrilling with a capital T! Especially as Mrs Adler sits Mia next to Edie in class. Mia has a hearing impairment and wears hearing aids. She seems shy and Edie knows how scary it can feel to join a new school. Maybe Edie can be the jam to Mia’s jelly? It’s time for… THE FRIEND MISSION! However, I ended up really liking Oscar after reading the whole book because he becomes very supportive when he realises how much Edie enjoys the theatre club. I also really like how patient and kind he is when Edie trips over by carrying a mini first aid kit.