Review from the Better Reading website of the Starring Olive Black series, 11 April 2017.

An astronaut, a doctor, a zookeeper… When you’re a kid, you spend a lot of time dreaming about just what it is you want to be when you grow up. We come up with all sorts of fantastical ideas about what we want to be one day, but for Olive Black, she doesn’t have to wait. She has her dream job right now!

Olive Black is ten years old, and already an absolute super-star. At ten, she’s already been acting for three years, even winning multiple Academy Awards! She juggles her multiple movies with all the crazy promotion and interviews, as well as attending school and spending time with her mum, dad, brother, and of course, her best friend Rani. Olive deals with movie premieres and dance routines, hanging out with her B.F.F.E.I.W.O.A.S. (Best Friend Forever Even If We’re Old And Smelly), and her annoying older brother (who thinks he’s all that just because he’s in year seven!). Olive is feisty and stubborn, but she’s got a lot of love for her best friends, and a lot of room to grow.

Starring Olive Black is the hit new series from author Alex Miles, with illustrations scattered throughout the books by Maude Guesne. Mammoth Mistake and The Robbery Riddle are out right now, with new book Halloween Queencoming soon. Each book title is taken from the name of the movie Olive is currently starring in (and boy, is that girl busy!) that somehow correlates to a life lesson Olive learns. Undoubtedly, these books will keep on coming, with girls everywhere absolutely delighting in them. Hannah, age 10, says it’s “impossible to put down,” and from a ten year old girl, that’s a pretty impressive endorsement.

Mammoth Mistake introduces us to loyal, funny, and over-the-top Olive and her best friend. But when Olive gets entangled in the world of star-biz, and all the gossip around it, will she remember what matters? Excitingly, yes – she does. For a book about young girls in such a crazy industry, it’s touching to see that Alex Miles really drives home what’s important. Family, friends, and education. We love the starry and glamorous world of Olive’s movie adventures, but Miles helps us to remember it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

The Robbery Riddle continues Olive’s adventures, where Olive plays a side kick to the world’s favourite film detective (who seems oddly like James Bond…). There’s drama, action, and mystery in the books, but even more than that, there’s a real life robbery at school – not just in the movies. Olive and her BFF Rani work the case as detectives, but it turns out to be trickier than they thought. And along the way, they learn a thing or two about secrets, when to tell the truth, and when to keep someone’s confidence. Even Josh, age 9, says, “this is the best!”

With two stellar titles already on the stands, we cannot wait to see what Halloween Queen is like, and what Olive and Rani get up to next. These books are perfect for girls aged eight and up, teaching important lessons about friendship and family, while still being an absolute blast. Your kids won’t be able to put these star-studded books down.

View the original review on the Better Reading website.