Age 9+
Anne Fine’s acerbic take on life often assumes a level of sophistication in her young readers. In The More the Merrier, for instance, she exposed the anger and conflict in families at Christmas to an audience perhaps still learning that the celebration is supposed to be about bonhomie. In Eating Things on Sticks, young Harry, from the family that unleashed those Yuletide home truths, is surrendered to the care of Tristram, his irresponsible bachelor uncle. Harry plays gooseberry while Tristram visits new-age flake Morning Glory, his latest love interest, on a remote island inhabited by incomprehensible men with big beards. The satire about Morning Glory (she likes to meditate in the presence of an apple) and the ironies of Tristram’s romantic rivalry, are adult subjects for 9+. Insights into the emotional lives of grown-ups can, however, appeal to children, and the misunderstandings that surround Harry and Tristram’s trip create comic situations that make the readers, for once, the knowing ones (Doubleday £10.99)

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