The Life of Riley: Beginner's Luck

Simon James Green

From Shelf: Great Books Guide 2021: For 10 to 11 year olds

Riley is cursed. No, really! After a fairground incident - TOTALLY not his fault - bad luck follows Riley everywhere, causing disaster after disaster. It's got so bad that no one wants to go near Riley, including his teachers! But when new student Brad Chicago shows up, Riley quickly realizes that Brad is the human equivalent of a good luck charm.

Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award A hilarious middle-grade novel about one boy's quest to get rid of a ridiculous amount of bad luck! After a traumatic run-in with the fortune teller from a visiting funfair - thanks to an unfortunately-timed sneeze - Riley finds himself CURSED. Life as he knows it quickly becomes a catalogue of disasters - from accidentally supergluing himself to his classmates and ruining the school football team's sponsorship deal, to flooding his house and losing class 4's pet rabbit - Riley knows the bad luck is out to get him. Enter new kid: Brad Chicago. He's super-cool, well-groomed and stylish, with an excellent stationery collection. And for some reason he wants to be Riley's friend. Can Riley get rid of the curse before Brad discovers he's a walking disaster? Laugh-out-loud funny, warm-hearted and anarchic in a way that readers will love. Brought to life with Aleksei Bitskoff's lively, humorous illustrations. Perfect for fans of Kid Normal, David Solomons' My Brother is a Superhero and David Baddiel. Award-winning author Simon James Green is best known for his funny books for teens. This is his first book for middle-grade readers.