What do you think?
Rate this book
I Hate Fridays #4
Worried Sick
The kids at Koala Hills have finally got to secondary school, so what can they possibly be so worried about? Well, they're thirteen now, and it's a minefield: private business can become public, friends can become enemies, there are any number of alarming diseases to develop, the sea levels are rising, and well, what is the difference between being cool and just trying too hard?
155 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 6, 2025
The Koala Hills PS gang has moved on to high school, which brings new teachers, new students and new challenges. No one story really stood out in this one, but it's as charming as always and with the sweetest ending as two of the characters form a new connection.
March 9, 2022
Reviewing this before I donate this book. It was funny when I read it as a tween but now, it's time to let go.
This was a rather entertaining read but lacked any real voice from the characters. I didn't actually like any of the characters but I could relate to their experiences at secondary school (bullies, peer pressure, mean friends, wanting to impress, unsatisfied parents, annoying teachers). The unique Australian setting gave me a fresh perspective on my bookshelf because I did not have many books set in that country.
The book is told over the course of essays of the students. There are a few references to their previous relationships and teachers from primary schools. The students each had their own distinct voices and personalities which you could tell from their writing styles. Thadeus is rigid and wordy. David Pierce is the average joe. Joan is sensible, quiet and observant. Kathryn Chambers is just plain mean and she always points out everyone else's shortcomings. Kirsty Dean is vapid, shallow and her writing reflects her one-track mind: boys, crushes, popularity. Peter Karlos is essentially the Charlie Brown of the group, constantly worrying and being bullied over his dorky personality while crushing hard on Bridget who doesn't give him the time of the day. We also get a few new characters like Melissa, a cool new girl who is hiding secrets of her own and a few rag tag students who break the rules.
Rachel Flynn provides a rather comprehensive and non-judgmental picture of secondary school students. We see the real troublemakers having a chance to tell their story alongside the regular joes and the nerds who won't dream of causing trouble. She juxtaposes the selfish and self-obsessed diatribes of Kirsty alongside the sensible words of Joan and the mean words of Kathryn Chambers. It was also clever how she wove in details from each essay into an event that would happen next, showing a chain reaction caused by the behaviour of the students. A prank phone call can lead to a lot of trouble for the boys!
Personally, I feel this book would be a good discussion among parents or teens or in a book group. I think there might be young readers realizing that their friends are Kirstys or Joans or Kathryns. There are also funny characters who point out the absurdity of secondary school with its new rules, cultures and teachers.
A missed opportunity would be the school bulletins and announcements interspersed between the diary entries. I thought they could have been funnier but they weren't. The cartoonish doodles made by the students are top notch though and lends an air of realism to the book, making me feel like I stumbled across their essays in real life.
This was a rather entertaining read but lacked any real voice from the characters. I didn't actually like any of the characters but I could relate to their experiences at secondary school (bullies, peer pressure, mean friends, wanting to impress, unsatisfied parents, annoying teachers). The unique Australian setting gave me a fresh perspective on my bookshelf because I did not have many books set in that country.
The book is told over the course of essays of the students. There are a few references to their previous relationships and teachers from primary schools. The students each had their own distinct voices and personalities which you could tell from their writing styles. Thadeus is rigid and wordy. David Pierce is the average joe. Joan is sensible, quiet and observant. Kathryn Chambers is just plain mean and she always points out everyone else's shortcomings. Kirsty Dean is vapid, shallow and her writing reflects her one-track mind: boys, crushes, popularity. Peter Karlos is essentially the Charlie Brown of the group, constantly worrying and being bullied over his dorky personality while crushing hard on Bridget who doesn't give him the time of the day. We also get a few new characters like Melissa, a cool new girl who is hiding secrets of her own and a few rag tag students who break the rules.
Rachel Flynn provides a rather comprehensive and non-judgmental picture of secondary school students. We see the real troublemakers having a chance to tell their story alongside the regular joes and the nerds who won't dream of causing trouble. She juxtaposes the selfish and self-obsessed diatribes of Kirsty alongside the sensible words of Joan and the mean words of Kathryn Chambers. It was also clever how she wove in details from each essay into an event that would happen next, showing a chain reaction caused by the behaviour of the students. A prank phone call can lead to a lot of trouble for the boys!
Personally, I feel this book would be a good discussion among parents or teens or in a book group. I think there might be young readers realizing that their friends are Kirstys or Joans or Kathryns. There are also funny characters who point out the absurdity of secondary school with its new rules, cultures and teachers.
A missed opportunity would be the school bulletins and announcements interspersed between the diary entries. I thought they could have been funnier but they weren't. The cartoonish doodles made by the students are top notch though and lends an air of realism to the book, making me feel like I stumbled across their essays in real life.
August 23, 2015
Nice read just for the day. Talks about the struggle of life and secondary school. to be honest he struggle is real.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews