'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Tuesday 23 February 2021

Review: What Zola Did on Thursday

It’s Thursday, and today Zola is practicing her trombone. Zola’s family are not 100% keen on her trombone playing, but all Zola’s friends who live on or around Boomerang Street are fans, all with musical passions of their own. 

Practice time is filled with the sounds of musical instruments and singing. And it’s a good thing all the kids are practicing, too. Because the school has just announced there’s going to be a community talent quest. 

All the kids are keen to enter a musical performance, but when all the solo spots are taken and the only spots left are for groups, the kids of Boomerang street need to come up with a different solution. 

The 'What Zola Did' series is a charming junior fiction collection filled with emotion, friendship and family. These books are super easy to read, making them perfect for kids tackling chapter books for the first time, and all revolve around relatable and simple friendship activities, making them easy for kids to connect with.

What Zola Did on Thursday is, you guessed it, the fourth in the series, and comes after What Zola Did on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Read together, each expands on Zola’s world and life on Boomerang Street, but each can be plucked from the bookshelf and read alone so you don’t have to start at the beginning. 

If you looking for a lovely and easy chapter book series for a beginner reader you know, this series is a winner. Melinda Marchetta brings so much heart to these stories as she builds the Boomerang community in each book. Family, friends, neighbours and teachers all come together, creating a supportive and magical group of characters that help each other and have loads of fun.

Deb Hudson’s illustrations are also pure delight, and there are lots of them peppered throughout, supporting new readers to transition to novels. 

What Zola Did on Thursday is happiness in book form, and with only three days left in the series, I cannot wait to see where we go.

Title: What Zola Did on Thursday
Author: Melina Marchetta 
Illustrator: Deb Hudson
Publisher: Penguin, $12.99  
Publication Date: 2 February 2021
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760895181
For ages: 6 - 9
Type: Junior Fiction