Anna/Bella

12-year-old Annabella, child of newly divorced parents, has resolved her new situation by being Anna (‘the old me’) at her mum’s, and Bella (trendy young teen) at her dad’s. <!--break-->Problems arise when, inevitably, her two lives coincide, often hilariously as she recruits one boyfriend to frighten off another, or tries to keep two friends happy by entering the same competition twice.

The complexities of growing up are well-handled via this metaphor – at first all goes well and Anna is happy slotting into her younger self at mum’s. But she gradually realises that part of her is much happier being Bella and trying out a more independent life. The confusion experienced by the adolescent, feeling one way while acting another to keep up with the crowd, and the difficulty of reconciling the real need to be different and to establish an independent personality with the perceived need to please one’s parents, perhaps by being like them, are themes well worked-out by Swift.

The book also explores the very real difficulty some children experience in a split family, shuttling between homes, dealing with parents’ new relationships and finding a way of reconciling this. It’s the Lottie and Lisa / Parent Trap story de nos jours, and very well-handled in a light-hearted way. AG