Title: Riley’s Failproof Guide to…Breaking a School Record
Author: Dani Vee, illustrated by Jules Faber
Genre: Humour
Publisher: Larrikin House
Published: 4th September 2024
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208
Price: $16.99
Synopsis: Riley Noodle has been trying to break a school record for seven years. There is only one problem: Riley doesn’t think she’s very at good anything. From being superglued to the principal’s dog, accidentally swallowing the class pet and being constantly embarrassed by her dad who is intent on saving the world in a kaftan, this year has been nothing but a series of FAILS! Can Riley and her two best friends – Henry, the school’s hot dog eating champion, and the sassy new girl Olivia – help Riley achieve the ultimate goal of finally breaking a school record?
*This is an early review, posted with permission from the author and publisher*
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Twelve-year-old Riley Noodle is determined to make a mark in her last year of primary school at Crumpet Creek Primary School – and even her principal, Principal Smelty, doesn’t think she can, despite seven years of trying. Even Henry, Riley’s best friend, and the new girl, Olivia Blueberry – who has only arrived eleven days before the deadline to break a record – are going to.
Poor Riley doesn’t seem to have much luck in this book. Everything seems to go wrong around her, even when she is trying to do the right things. From being superglued to Principal Smelty’s dog, Mr Sandwich, swallowing the class pet (Mr Penguin’s devastation was real!), and a disastrous camping trip with her vegan, kaftan-wearing father intent on single-handedly saving the world, Riley’s life is one outrageously hilarious disaster after another. And when you’re constantly being compared to your disaster-free, totally intelligent, science-obsessed twin brother, things can’t really get much worse, can they? Well, yeah, they can – enter school bully, Gracie as well. It seems that everyone – apart from Henry and Olivia – are somehow against Riley. Yep, even her family is…odd. Very odd, but this is the charm of Dani Vee’s debut junior fiction. She captures the delightful chaos of being twelve and in your final year of primary school, friendship dynamics and being part of a family that well, sometimes things are not always what you want or hope. Let’s face it – when we’re Riley’s age, all sorts of things about the people we know can be embarrassing but Riley’s father takes it to the next level. He has no qualms pushing the boundaries and being wildly open – too open – about things that Riley quite rightly thinks should remain private.
I loved Riley’s tenacity and rebelliousness and inventiveness – she has tried so many different things to break a school record, so her imagination knows no bounds, and she is always managing to eat meat in secret – who wouldn’t, when your father is determined to use up every last little bit even when things might not be okay to eat. I totally understood her reluctance here – out of date food is not nice, and some of the combinations her dad came up with did not sound right at all! Disaster after disaster seemed to befall Riley – many not of her making, but she is that kid, and that character where the bad things just happen! How? I don’t know, but despite her frustration, she truly used it all to her advantage. And Dani’s grasp of chaotic humour is fantastic – she gets the balance between the all sorts of kid humour right, showing that there are so many ways for a kids book to be funny and enjoyable. I think all the readers of this series when it comes out will enjoy the humour on all its levels and ludicrousness, because this has that outrageous sense of being completely over the top, and it works.
It works because that’s how the genre of funny books for junior fiction and middle grade readers can work. The over the top, that would never really happen, who could be that unlucky is something that captures a child’s sense of humour, allowing them to have a good belly laugh. The ridiculousness of this book is in its complete and utter disregard for order and celebration of chaos, and I think this is brilliant, because it celebrates fun as well. The fun that can be found in between the chaotic moments, where you find out who your real friends are, and what you really want to do – where you find your purpose – well, at least in this moment of Riley’s life.
Another reason it works is that Dani allows Riley to embrace her embarrassment, what she loves to do, and her relationships with Henry and Olivia, who teach Riley to be who she is and to embrace everything around her. It is also a story of acceptance as well – accepting what you are good at, accepting the chaos of your family, and finding a way to survive the last year of primary school. I loved it and hope Dani has more up her sleeve for Riley.
Keep an eye out for Riley’s Failproof Guide to…Breaking a School Record, out on the 4th of September from Larrikin Press online and instore at all good bookstores.
The Book Muse 