Jemima Small is the opposite of her name. Rather than being ‘small’ she is anything but. Aged 12 to 13 through this long novel, she finds school very difficult, due to serious bullying by fellow classmate, Lottie, who regularly calls her Jemima Big. To add to this problem, her mother has left the family some years before, and there is a ‘black hole in her heart’ where her mum should be. Dad tries to be supportive, but often finds Jemima’s rather aggressive approach to life difficult, and older brother Jasper is, well, an older brother. Enough said. To top all this, Jemima is made a member of the Healthy Lifestyle Club, which (as she understands only too well) is made up of fat kids, clinically obese or almost so, and her self-esteem, never strong, hits rock bottom. During all this, she is supported wonderfully by best friend, Miki, who stands up for her and likes her just as she is, and occasionally even other members of the class and the occasional teacher stop the rampant bullying, but this doesn’t really help. Jemima has a brilliant brain and soaks up knowledge like few of us can, and when the Brainiacs TV programme writes to the school to ask for pupils to try for Brainiac of the year, she is excited at the prospect – until she realises it means she would be seen by people all over the world, and being seen is not her thing. The lady who leads the new ‘Healthy Lifestyle Club’, Gina, is an enthusiast for eating properly, for exercise, and for convincing her young people that they have it within themselves to look at their bodies in positive ways, and while at first Jemima is sceptical about all this, she begins to like Gina and to find her supportive in many ways. Meanwhile, Jemima has entered the Brainiacs competition, and wins through to the next round, beating horrid Lottie in the process. This, of course, brings on new and even worse bullying, and when teachers fully realise what Jemima has been put through, they make sure it stops. Jemima doesn’t win Brainiac of the year, but she comes an excellent second, and this ups her self-esteem enormously. In fact, she is then able to come to terms with hers and Jasper’s discovery that their mum has actually left them for their Uncle Alfie, who had also disappeared from their lives, and that her lack of contact has been quite on purpose. Auntie Luna, a colourful, confirmed lover of the Universe and the belief that people are connected to it in mysterious ways, also helps Jemima’s understanding of herself, and she realises that her family have always been supportive and loving in their own way. There’s a lot of humour in this story. Jemima herself, telling the story in her own words, gives much of it, and this is a feisty and lovable heroine who faces her problems head on. Very readable.