This book was the Children’s Book Council’s Book of the Year in 1989. It is a book about making friends and overcoming fears. A lot of people think eight-year-old Melanie Wright is timid and shy, but she’s not really. It’s just that she likes to take her time over new things and new people. Moving to a new house means that she has too many things to do at once, start at a different school, meet her new neighbours and she has to walk to school with Jasmine Hardcastle, who thinks Melanie’s a bit of a wimp. Yet, Melanie tackles her problems in her own time and in her own way.
