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Jump to navigationJump to searchKid Swap (Jiggy McCue) by Michael Lawrence (view source)
Revision as of 16:32, 15 September 2020
, 16:32, 15 September 2020no edit summary
The Nexts are very rich, very nice, and Sans-Earthist - they don't eat anything that comes from the ground. But they do eat sweets and drink fizzy drinks - as much and as often as even Jiggy could want. You'd think things were looking up for our intrepid hero, but unfortunately, Jiggy was right in the first place. The TV people have a knack for catching him at his most unfortunate, and his fifteen minutes of fame go from bad to worse and to even worse still...
This tenth Jiggy McCue book hasn't lost any of the freshness that characterises the series. It's still light, easy, funny slapstick humour with some contemporary satire thrown in for good measure. You can't help but love them. Jaded adult that I am, even I laughed aloud as I read. Jiggy's transformation from vegetable-phobic to broccoli-wannabe under the Sans-Earthist regime at the Nexts is utterly hilarious. It's wondrous, what a crop of spots can do to a teenager. And thankfully, eventually , Jiggy's family have the last laugh on the nasty and manipulative TV people. As ever, Lawrence captures the zeitgeist with some timely satire - this time reality TV and all its unreality, conniving, and manipulative editing. There's some sharp comment here, but it's always tempered by irony and humour.
The wonderful comic timing and contemporary subjects they cover make the Jiggy McCue books as suitable for keen nine -year-olds as they are for reluctant fourteen -year-olds. They appeal equally to boys and girls and I can't recommend them highly enough.
My thanks to the nice people at Orchard for sending the book. We also have a review of [[Murder and Chips (Jiggy McCue) by Michael Lawrence]].
Jiggy McCue's younger readers might also like [[How To Write Really Badly by Anne Fine]] or [[Stinky Finger's Peace and Love Thing by Jon Blake]], while older readers might be ready for [[Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray]].
