Lilah May's Manic Days - Softcover

Curtis, Vanessa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184780246X ISBN 13: 9781847802460

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2012

Synopsis

Lilah May used to be angry. VERY angry. But not any more. She's got her temper - and her life - back under control. Or has she? Things with her best friend, Bindi, are going from bad to worse. The whereabouts of her brother Jay is still a mystery. And gorgeous Adam Carter is still out of reach. Groo! Can Lilah sort out her family, her friendship and her love life? Or is her anger about to reach all new levels? This funny and moving story is the follow up to The Taming of Lilah May.

About this title

About the Author

Vanessa Curtis's first children's book Zelah Green: Queen of Clean (Egmont) was shortlisted for the 2009 Waterstones Children's Book Prize. The sequel Zelah Green: One More Little Problem was released in July 2010. Vanessa is also a freelance book reviewer and the author of three books on Virginia Woolf. She co-edits The Virginia Woolf Bulletin, the magazine of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain and, as a trained pianist, also teaches the piano part-time. She works as a reader for a literary consultancy. Vanessa lives near Chichester harbour, West Sussex. Vist Vanessa's website at www.vanessacurtis.com

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

'You should ring Bindi up, love,' Mum says. 'It's the right thing to do. You two were such good friends!'

I sigh. It's nearly the Christmas holidays and I don't know what's right or wrong anymore

I'm not even sure who I am.

It's been a rubbish start to winter. Mum and Dad are being a bit stressful at the moment and although I know why, it's starting to make me angry. I have a bit of a problem with anger, you see. It doesn't take much for me to flare up into a rage or to start snapping at Mum or sulking with Dad.

My parents are not, and never have been, exactly 'normal.'

My mother is a clown. Yes, really. She entertains kids at children's parties and she used to be good at it until our family kind of fell to pieces and she decided to spend more time with me and go to yoga to keep herself calm but over the last few weeks I can see that she's getting all restless and really wants to go back full-time to her job as a clown. My Dad tames lions and he's quite good way at 'taming' ME when I get angry but he spends most of his waking hours obsessing about big cats and sometimes I wish I had a furry mane and a big set of teeth and claws 'cos then he might pay me more attention.

We kind of got all this hope because my brother - Jay - rang up after two years when we didn't know whether he was alive or dead.

I asked him if he was going to come home soon and the line made this loud humming noise and he wasn't there anymore.

We couldn't call him back but the police have been trying to trace the phone box he called from.

That was about two weeks ago.

Jay's still not back.

And Bindi?

She let me down.

Big time.

Imagine the worst thing that a best friend could do to you, and then triple it. Well, that's what Bindi did to me.

Groo.



'Why won't you just ring her up?' Mum says again. 'Friendship is really important, especially at your age.'

We're in the kitchen and Mum has come back from her yoga class and is ready to go to work later, standing at the cooker in her clown outfit which today consists of black and white checked baggy trousers, big black lace-up shoes, a frilly white blouse with giant black buttons on and a frizzy red wig which sticks out in tufts on each side.

I glare up from where I've been staring at the television guide for about half an hour. Couldn't actually tell you what's on. All the time I've been staring at the black print there's this boiling feeling of heat rising up from my feet to my head whenever I think of my so-called best mate Bindi. When it first happened it didn't seem very important compared to Jay calling but now it's had a chance to sink in I'm fuming.

Maybe I should start keeping my Anger Diary again. I've been too angry to write it for the past fortnight.

'Lilah,' my mother is saying. 'Did you hear me? I said you ought to ring Bindi and talk it through with her. She was always such a nice little friend to you.'

I grit my teeth and take a deep breath like Dad has taught me to. I'm supposed to count before speaking in an effort to stop the anger bursting out of my mouth like water from a burst tap.

'Yeah, nice little boyfriend-stealing friend,' I mutter down at my lap.

Mum hears me and turns around with a fish slice in one hand and the other hand on her hip. It's kind of weird having a clown giving you a serious look. Mum's lipstick is painted on in the shape of a big red smiling mouth but her eyes behind the white panda circles look stern and concerned.

'Adam Carter wasn't your boyfriend, Lilah,' she says. 'I think you're being a bit unfair.'

I scrape my chair back and huff off upstairs to my bedroom and slam the door.

Edition details

• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 184780246X
• ISBN 13: 9781847802460
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176