- Illustrated Chapter Books
- Ages 8–11
- Comedy
My Best Friend and Other Enemies
Book 1 in Jess JacksonView the full series
A sharp, laugh-out-loud school comedy about the misery of being ditched by your best friend for the cool new girl, and the surprisingly powerful weapons of a felt-tip pen and a good sense of humour.
- Best for8–11
- FormatIllustrated
- Length208 pp
- Read aloud~1 hr25 min
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The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Conversational
Tone
- Funny
- Irreverent
- Warm
- Heartwarming
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Jessica and Natalie have been best friends forever, but ever since new girl Amelia arrived, Jess finds herself squeezed out to the sidelines. Amelia is glossy, controlling and determined to run the whole class, and Natalie is dazzled. Rather than take it lying down, Jess fights back the only way she knows how: with her cartoons, her jokes and her refusal to pretend to be someone she isn't. The pen turns out to be mightier than the mean girl, and Jess's sense of humour wins her far more friends than she loses. The debut in comedian Catherine Wilkins's Jess Jackson series is a pin-sharp, genuinely funny take on primary-school friendship politics, illustrated throughout with Sarah Horne's lively cartoons. Warm, quick and hugely relatable, it's perfect for readers who know exactly how it feels to be on the wrong side of a best-friend fallout.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
Pitched at 8-11s reading independently, with cartoon-led humour that carries confident younger readers and works read aloud from about 7. The friendship politics land hardest for the upper-primary end.
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- Best fit · 8–11
- Read aloud · 7–10
- Independent · 8–11
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Moderate
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Funny school stories
- Friendship dramas
- Reluctant readers
- Tween girls
- Cartooning and comics
Avoid if
No common reasons to avoid this one — a rare clean sweep on the sensitivity flags.
Particularly good for children who are…
- Making friends
- Interested in art and creativity
- Reluctant reader
- Low self esteem
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
Jess is funny, ordinary and easy to root for, and she takes on the class queen bee with nothing but felt-tips and a killer sense of humour. Every reader who has ever been dropped by a best friend will feel completely seen.
- Being understood finally
- Friendship and belonging
- Proving yourself
- The underdog winning
Why parents love it
A witty, warm-hearted read that handles friendship fallouts and peer pressure with real insight and no preachiness. The cartoon-strip humour makes it fly by, which is ideal for reluctant readers.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
In the series
Jess Jackson.
4 books · open the series →
About the creators
About the creators.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
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