Meet the author

Catherine Wilkins.

Writer · United Kingdom

Catherine Wilkins: a comedian-turned-author whose Jess Jackson and Café Chaos series turn primary-school friendship politics and family chaos into pin-sharp, laugh-out-loud comedy with real feeling underneath — for 8–12s in the Jacqueline Wilson mould.

Catherine Wilkins is a British comedian and children's author who grew up in Hertfordshire and now lives in London. Drawing on a stand-up background, she writes pin-sharp, laugh-out-loud school comedies with real feeling underneath. Her Jess Jackson series — beginning with My Best Friend and Other Enemies — follows a cartoon-drawing girl navigating the shifting loyalties of primary-school friendship, wielding a felt-tip pen and a good sense of humour against mean girls and best-friend fallouts, illustrated throughout by Sarah Horne. Her newer Café Chaos books, illustrated by Katie Abey, turn a family's chaotic café and its money worries into warm comedy for readers starting secondary school. Wilkins is sharp on jealousy, belonging and being heard, and consistently relatable. A great fit for readers aged 8–12 who love funny, true-to-life school and family stories in the Jacqueline Wilson mould.