Friends and Brothers

This perceptive and pacy story of sibling rivalry and bonding is a refreshingly unsentimental treatment of a familiar topic, with all the right ingredients to engage junior children.
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Boys and girls instantly empathise with one or other of the central characters, William and his younger brother, Charlie, and are hooked from the opening lines: '"You say that word just once more," said William to Charlie, "and I'll hit you." Charlie said it. William hit him.' The word in question is 'absolutely', which Charlie says all the time, although he does not know what it means. When Charlie has a nasty bicycle accident, however, it is William who comes to his aid. The occasional half page illustrations are competently drawn, but this book is so well written that they are hardly needed. Very entertaining and a real hit with my sample audience. First published in 1987.