Wednesday, after school
Dear Diary,
I can’t believe it. It can’t possibly be true.
But it IS!
Cassi Valentine – the best most excellent pop star in the WHOLE WILD WORLD – is coming here. To my town.
Maybe even to MY SCHOOL!!!
ZOW-EE!
I heart Cassi Valentine SOOO MUCH!
Ella is back in a new adventure told through her diary. In ‘Dreams’ Come True’ Ella is excited to hear that her music idol is coming to town and that if they can win a competition, Cassi might perform at their school. She has a last-minute brilliant idea and then discovers she has to work with her enemy, Peach Parker. Everything goes wrong and it begins to look like not only will winning be impossible but that Ella will have alienated all her friends. Dreams Come True is written in a handwriting font complete with larger, coloured, all-caps words. Each opening includes doodle-type illustrations in black and red.
‘Ella Diaries’ is a new series from Scholastic, an Australian pitch at the market for ‘Dork Diaries’. Ella is a passionate and energetic main character and she is surrounded by a supportive family and teachers. She is stubborn and loyal and just a tad sure she’s generally right. About most things. In Dreams Come True she is excited that maybe her favourite singer might visit, but very challenged by having to work with Peach. The action is fast-paced and although filtered through Ella’s own words, the dynamics are visible to the reader. There is an intensity of emotion that many parents and teachers will recognise and young readers will empathise with. Recommended for newly independent readers who like a mixture of text and illustration.
Ella Diaries: Dreams Come True , Meredith Costain Danielle McDonald
Scholastic 2015 ISBN: 9781760153045
review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller