Frog’s Mystery Twin (Bored #2) by Matt Stanton

Title: Frog’s Mystery Twin (Bored #2)

Author: Matt Stanton

Genre: Humour

Publisher: ABC Books/HarperCollins Australia

Published: 7^th September 2022

Format: Paperback

Pages: 224

Price: $14.99

Synopsis: Sometimes feeling bored is just the beginning …

My name is Frog and this may have been a very bad idea. I’ve started at this new school and when you’re trying to fit in the best thing you can do is just try something totally crazy! Right?

Well, it seemed like a good plan. Only now Luisa has decided I’m her favourite person to make fun of, Evie thinks I’m completely nuts, Milo’s grumpy about something or other and I’m about to tell everyone the whole story about my secret twin brother with the same name. True story! I swear.

I can get myself in all sorts of trouble when I’m bored …

From the million-copy bestselling author of Funny Kid and The Odds, comes another story in this laugh-out-loud new series about the complicated business of being a kid.

~*~

What happens when the new kid at school gets bored, and is tired of one of the girls, Luisa,  in his class constantly picking on him and Evie. So one day when Luisa won’t leave him alone, Frog, who has been very bored lately, tells her that he has a twin brother! As well as that, Evie thinks he is being silly, and Milo, is grumpy – but he won’t tell anyone what is making him grumpy. So Frog’s secret twin brother story is coming at just the right time, isn’t it? Well maybe – until it all backfires.

Being a kid in a new school and a new neighbourhood (again) is tough, and this time, Frog is hopeful that he will get to stay here, settle down and make friends.  Luisa isn’t making it easy, and he soon learns that boredom can lead to interesting things and ways of coping, as well as uncovering secrets about others that they don’t want others to know about. And boredom in Frog’s world with his new friends at Richmond Public School and Turtle Place can be dangerous. So sit back and see what happens when young kids get bored and the bonds that start to form through the snowball effects of the lie, and what it means when it is uncovered.

Bored is going to be one of those series that is light and funny, but at the same time, filled with heart. I think it is the kind of bridging book that kids need between the early readers and moving into denser, more involved middle grade books, because it combines text and illustrations seamlessly. It has a good balance, with more text than illustrations for early middle grade or older junior fiction readers.  As well as this, I think it is going to be one of those series that might be read and re-read – kind of like a comfort read that does touch on COVID, but still gives kids an escape from the realities of what is going on in the world, whilst still acknowledging what the world is like and has been like over the past few years.

This is the second book in a series, and I think each book is going to be told from a different perspective each time. The first book was told from Milo’s POV, and now we have frog – so it will be interesting to see who is next, and how we learn more about each character throughout the series. It looks to be a fun series for fans of Matt Stanton or those looking for a good laugh, and a break from heavier reading, because it is a lighter book for reluctant readers as well. I hope it finds readers and that kids will find something to enjoy about this or relate to, as it is the kind of book that I think might have something for all those who read it.