Allen & Unwin The Rise and Rise of Tabitha Baird book Fiction English Paperback 224 pages

Delightful and candid, this uproarious tale will have you in tears

'Witty, wise and wonderful . . . Such fun!' Miranda Hart. When thirteen-year-old Tabitha's parents split up, she's forced to move down to London with her mum and brother. Sounds cool right? Well there's just one teeny tiny hitch. They're moving in with Gran . . . Mental, very much NOT cool Gran, who talks to (AND FOR) her knitwear-adorned dog Basil like he's the son she never had. Worse still, her mum has decided to start writing an embarrassing blog (much of it about her teenage daughter) and her younger brother Luke's favourite pastime seems to be 'annoy Tab as much as humanly possible'. All this embarrassment is particularly bad news as Tabitha has given herself a mission for her new school: to be the coolest, most popular girl there! Despite her family's best efforts, things get off to a good start as Tab quickly makes friends with A'isha and Emz (and manages to avoid total losers like Grace). She seems to be on the rise and rise - even meeting cute dog walker Sam whilst out with Basil - but then disaster strikes. Is Tab about to find out the real cost of popularity?

Arabella Weir is an actor, writer and comedian. She is best known for her appearances in The Fast Show. She's written for the Guardian, Independent and Mail, and is on radio and TV regularly. She has written several books including the international bestseller, DOES MY BUM LOOK BIG IN THIS? but this is her first book for younger readers. She lives in North London with her two teenage children. Follow Arabella on Twitter: @ArabellaWeir.