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Darcy Burdock #2
Hi So Much
Ten-year-old Darcy sees the extraordinary in the everyday and the wonder in the world around her. This second book sees Darcy move-up to Big School - and all of a sudden EVERYTHING changes. Her best friend Will isn't sure he should talk to girls anymore, her new teacher may in actual fact be a cauldron-bubbling witch and, horror of horrors, her precious pet Lamb-Beth goes missing. Can Darcy face these challenges head-on, armed only with her curious, whip-smart mind and eye for a story?
Joyous drawings, colourful characters and a high-energy voice - the Darcy Burdock books are packed with personality from start to finish.
- GenresHumor
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2014
1 person is currently reading
69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 7, 2017
Nastavak Darcynih avantura mi je još bolji nego u prethodnoj knjizi. Simpatično, duhovito, otkačene ilustracije su i dalje tu, a ja se veselim sljedećem nastavku.
"Nada je osjetljiv osjećaj. Mora biti pažena, mažena i hranjena, no ipak nije istinita, nije stvaran život. Naposljetku se raspline, istopi se na dlanu poput snijega i iscuri kroz prste."
This one was much better then the prequel! I've really enjoyed in this humorous story and I'm looking forward to the sequels. One thing that really matters is that children understand that friendship has no price.
"Nada je osjetljiv osjećaj. Mora biti pažena, mažena i hranjena, no ipak nije istinita, nije stvaran život. Naposljetku se raspline, istopi se na dlanu poput snijega i iscuri kroz prste."
This one was much better then the prequel! I've really enjoyed in this humorous story and I'm looking forward to the sequels. One thing that really matters is that children understand that friendship has no price.
April 28, 2014
A couple of weeks ago, I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to pick up Hi So Much. I'm not sure why as I hadn't even read the first book (or any Laura Dockrill before!). It was just a feeling I had. I was in the mood to read a good, fun children's book, preferably illustrated, and so Hi So Much fit this spontaneous brief that I suddenly felt the need to fill. And it was the perfect choice! I was instantly catapulted into the world of an 11-year-old.
Hi So Much begins with: "I can't believe I have not even started this book and I'm already in trouble", so you know it's going to be great before you've even finished the first page. Even though this is the only Darcy Burdock book I've read, I can tell that the series hinges on the wonderful, realistic characters that Laura Dockrill has created – and they certainly hold their own throughout the story. Darcy Burdock, our bright protagonist, just leaps off the page. She's enthusiastic, quick-witted and imaginative, and does a fantastic job representing what children often go through in their everyday lives. Smart, wise and charismatic, she has a voice that leads you through her story.
Darcy is just about to start 'Big School' and is absolutely terrified. It's a perfectly normal experience that many people probably won't remember, but it resonated with me because my first day at secondary school is extremely vivid. I remember getting there really early (although I can't exactly remember why), spending a few hours walking around the playground, dreading my first class. I felt small and anxious and I just generally didn't like change. I liked my school uniform (and my new pencil case!), but I felt odd wearing it. It's been 14 years, but I remember it so well and I loved getting inside a 11-year-old's mind again. I would have really appreciated this book – and a protagonist like Darcy – when I started school.
Darcy Burdock deals with the world around her (even though she also has a wonderfully supportive and loveable family) using creative writing, imagining all sorts of fantastical scenarios that Laura Dockrill inserts right into the main story. I loved Darcy's blunt honesty (in a way that only child can get away with). She doesn't have as many objections to saying 'I know it's bad, but I really hope I see lots of blood today' while visiting someone in hospital or enjoying the fact that someone's real name is actually Cyril Flakes – and teasing her little sister because she doesn't get the joke straight away.
Hi So Much is about the tumultuous, wondrous, but often traumatic, life of a 9-12 year old. It shows us (and actual children, of course!) that even if you're the youngest, smallest person in the room, your opinion still counts; that it's difficult, but not impossible, to stay friends with someone even when you're in different places; and that everyone spends Sunday dreading Monday, even though it's never as bad as Sunday pretends it will be. Hi So Much is full of lovely prose, snappy internal dialogue and witty illustrations and I'm looking forward to reading Darcy Burdock and the third book, Sorry About Me , published in July. Laura Dockrill knows what she's doing!
Thank you to the publishing for providing this book for review!
I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.
Hi So Much begins with: "I can't believe I have not even started this book and I'm already in trouble", so you know it's going to be great before you've even finished the first page. Even though this is the only Darcy Burdock book I've read, I can tell that the series hinges on the wonderful, realistic characters that Laura Dockrill has created – and they certainly hold their own throughout the story. Darcy Burdock, our bright protagonist, just leaps off the page. She's enthusiastic, quick-witted and imaginative, and does a fantastic job representing what children often go through in their everyday lives. Smart, wise and charismatic, she has a voice that leads you through her story.
Darcy is just about to start 'Big School' and is absolutely terrified. It's a perfectly normal experience that many people probably won't remember, but it resonated with me because my first day at secondary school is extremely vivid. I remember getting there really early (although I can't exactly remember why), spending a few hours walking around the playground, dreading my first class. I felt small and anxious and I just generally didn't like change. I liked my school uniform (and my new pencil case!), but I felt odd wearing it. It's been 14 years, but I remember it so well and I loved getting inside a 11-year-old's mind again. I would have really appreciated this book – and a protagonist like Darcy – when I started school.
Darcy Burdock deals with the world around her (even though she also has a wonderfully supportive and loveable family) using creative writing, imagining all sorts of fantastical scenarios that Laura Dockrill inserts right into the main story. I loved Darcy's blunt honesty (in a way that only child can get away with). She doesn't have as many objections to saying 'I know it's bad, but I really hope I see lots of blood today' while visiting someone in hospital or enjoying the fact that someone's real name is actually Cyril Flakes – and teasing her little sister because she doesn't get the joke straight away.
Hi So Much is about the tumultuous, wondrous, but often traumatic, life of a 9-12 year old. It shows us (and actual children, of course!) that even if you're the youngest, smallest person in the room, your opinion still counts; that it's difficult, but not impossible, to stay friends with someone even when you're in different places; and that everyone spends Sunday dreading Monday, even though it's never as bad as Sunday pretends it will be. Hi So Much is full of lovely prose, snappy internal dialogue and witty illustrations and I'm looking forward to reading Darcy Burdock and the third book, Sorry About Me , published in July. Laura Dockrill knows what she's doing!
Thank you to the publishing for providing this book for review!
I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.
February 15, 2015
What a gorgeous idea to write books for youngsters as if you are a ten year old girl yourself. That is precisely what Laura Dockrill has done producing an enchanting journal of life as it happens to Darcy Burdock. Very funny and quirky in just the right amounts to appeal to a middle grade audience, Hi so much is a great book and I feel certain Darcy Burdock will become a favourite of many 8 to 12 year olds.
March 2, 2016
loved it LOADS SO MUCH!!!!!
May 4, 2017
Just as quirky and heart-warming as the first book. Laura Dockrill's writing is unique and she really knows how to approximate characters' flaws and sometimes crazy ideas to the readers. Looking forward to the sequels.
July 27, 2020
I LOVED this book!!!!!!! It’s just the best and Darcy reminds me of me. She’s creative, fun, dramatic (very) and cool. This book is probably one of my fave Darcy Burdock books and I REALLY recommend it! Thank you Laura Dockrill for writing this awesome book!
✍️👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
✍️👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
April 17, 2019
Darcy Burdock, what an imaginative and bedazzling young girl!
February 7, 2021
It was very good and I recommend to probably everyone and I love the use of language in the story.
December 21, 2024
Cora and Dora - best short story ever
August 12, 2019
Ovu knjigu sam isto pročitala jako brzo, i stvarno mi se jakooo svidjela!!!❤️❤️💜
August 16, 2016
Hi so much is a fab little read. Perfect for 9 - 12 year olds. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
After loving Darcy burdock last year I was a bit worried about this book mostly because I've been struggling with second books series this last year or so as I've found they've never quite lived up to book one. I am so pleased to say I didn't have that problem at all with Hi So Much and it is just as good, if not better than book one.
This instalment of Darcy burdock follows Darcy as she makes the transition to high school, a daunting prospect for all eleven year olds I'm sure. I loved how this book dealt with all the worries Darcy was feeling at this point in her life and actually I'd recommend it to parents to give their kids who are worried about moving up to high school for that alone.
What I loved about this book though was the brilliant mix of funny and poignant that Laura dockrill does so well. Darcy is a brilliant character and you really get under her skin as she wears her heart on her sleeve and treats her reader as her personal best friend. I love this as you connect with her so well as a character. I love her imagination and quirkiness and you can't read this book and not fall a little bit in love with her. Be warned though, while on the whole this book is laugh out loud funny you'd have to have a heart of stone not to be touched by Darcy's poem about her beloved lamb Beth which had me in pieces.
All in all another brilliant read from Laura Dockrill. I cannot wait to read book three and am so excited to see her promoting this book at an event I have booked later this year.
After loving Darcy burdock last year I was a bit worried about this book mostly because I've been struggling with second books series this last year or so as I've found they've never quite lived up to book one. I am so pleased to say I didn't have that problem at all with Hi So Much and it is just as good, if not better than book one.
This instalment of Darcy burdock follows Darcy as she makes the transition to high school, a daunting prospect for all eleven year olds I'm sure. I loved how this book dealt with all the worries Darcy was feeling at this point in her life and actually I'd recommend it to parents to give their kids who are worried about moving up to high school for that alone.
What I loved about this book though was the brilliant mix of funny and poignant that Laura dockrill does so well. Darcy is a brilliant character and you really get under her skin as she wears her heart on her sleeve and treats her reader as her personal best friend. I love this as you connect with her so well as a character. I love her imagination and quirkiness and you can't read this book and not fall a little bit in love with her. Be warned though, while on the whole this book is laugh out loud funny you'd have to have a heart of stone not to be touched by Darcy's poem about her beloved lamb Beth which had me in pieces.
All in all another brilliant read from Laura Dockrill. I cannot wait to read book three and am so excited to see her promoting this book at an event I have booked later this year.
June 12, 2014
I keep coming across books which make me convinced that British children's literature is experiencing a little bit of a golden age right now. Hi So Much, the second in the Darcy Burdock series, helped confirm that feeling. Vivid with voice and full of a sort of spikey vibrant texture, it's a gorgeous book and also one that I think may translate well to being read out loud due to the aural loveliness of it. You can't help but 'hear' it as you read, the voice is so strong in this one (apologies for the slight Yoda-ism, but I hope you get what I mean).
So who is Darcy Burdock? She's a very lovely creation and in this book, she's about to go to Big School. Now we all know Big School is terrifying, right? I remember being told by my brother that all new first years got thrown into the pond so obviously I was terrified from the moment I sidled in through the doorway and the realisation that this didn't actually happen, was both a relief and a slight let-down. Darcy's first days at Big School are full of an intense terror and wonder as she tried to figure out what's going to happen to her best friend-ship with Will and what's going to happen to herself?
It's so vivid this one and I think those who are fans of the Alice-Miranda at School books may find a similar sort of joy in Darcy.
So who is Darcy Burdock? She's a very lovely creation and in this book, she's about to go to Big School. Now we all know Big School is terrifying, right? I remember being told by my brother that all new first years got thrown into the pond so obviously I was terrified from the moment I sidled in through the doorway and the realisation that this didn't actually happen, was both a relief and a slight let-down. Darcy's first days at Big School are full of an intense terror and wonder as she tried to figure out what's going to happen to her best friend-ship with Will and what's going to happen to herself?
It's so vivid this one and I think those who are fans of the Alice-Miranda at School books may find a similar sort of joy in Darcy.
April 16, 2016
This review was originally published on my blog on 5th March 2015. You can find it here.
This book returns us to Darcy’s world as she takes an important step in her life – starting secondary school. This book was another fun, yet emotional, book from the talented Laura Dockrill. It is a book that successfully looks at all the fears and worries that we face as we transition from junior to secondary school. It also shows how, at the core of it all, things will be okay. It is a quick fun read that I would highly recommend.
This book returns us to Darcy’s world as she takes an important step in her life – starting secondary school. This book was another fun, yet emotional, book from the talented Laura Dockrill. It is a book that successfully looks at all the fears and worries that we face as we transition from junior to secondary school. It also shows how, at the core of it all, things will be okay. It is a quick fun read that I would highly recommend.
March 18, 2017
Loved this book as a 20-yr-old, and I'm pretty sure I would have loved it even more if I was a 10-yr-old. Darcy is a lovable character that takes you on a whimsical journey through her rather interesting life living with her family (including her pet lamb) in London and starting her first year at the 'Big School', where the older and cooler kids go; or so she thinks. I loved watching the relationships unfold between Darcy and her family and school friends - it all felt so authentic. And of course, this book was not without its funny moments! Would recommend to audiences of all ages.
August 1, 2014
Although I am groaned up (Darcy's words!) this book was a delicious use of words by a gorgeously thoughtful and fun character that kept me entertained. I think this book would be a great example in the classroom to show children how playing with their own words in their writing would be valuable to help them express themselves. Fanticious!
April 3, 2014
3.5Stars
Darcy is such a fun narrator. I love the drawings and the stories Darcy writes in-between.
It's a book you should read when you want something to smile about.
So cute and entertaining.
Darcy is such a fun narrator. I love the drawings and the stories Darcy writes in-between.
It's a book you should read when you want something to smile about.
So cute and entertaining.
July 6, 2014
Hilarious and completely delightful, it's a privilege to jump into Darcy's wonderful brain for a second outing.
May 5, 2015
Never fails to impress.
March 26, 2016
It's a wonderful and an entertaining book on a 10 year old, who has some sad and happy moments in her new big school.
December 6, 2016
I really liked the book , cause it was a story of a girl who wants to be a writer like me.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews