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Cover of Worst Week Ever! Friday
Illustrated · ages 8–11

Worst Week Ever! Friday

Written by Eva Amores · Illustrated by Matt Cosgrove

Book 5 in Worst Week Ever!View the full series

Top giftable

Friday plunges Justin Chase to a new all-time low - literally - as he falls down a giant hole and has to navigate pitch-black caves and tunnels to escape. Fast, silly cartoon-and-photo comedy with interactive puzzle pages built in.

  • Best for8–11
  • FormatIllustrated
  • Length192 pp
  • Read aloud~1 hr15 min
Where to buyPaperback
WaterstonesIn stock
£7.99
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The vibe

What it’s like.

Style

  • Comedic
  • Conversational

Tone

  • Funny
  • Silly
  • Irreverent
  • Absurdist
  • Exciting

Themes

On the pagetrapped underground, caves, survival, interactive puzzles

Experience meters

Energy5/ 5
Humour5/ 5
Scariness2/ 5
Peril3/ 5
Wonder2/ 5
Cosiness1/ 5
Emotional intensity2/ 5
Conceptual intensity1/ 5

What’s it about?

The story.

Justin Chase has survived the mayhem of Monday, the trauma of Tuesday, the wildness of Wednesday and the terror of Thursday - and just when he's sure his week can't get any worse, along comes Friday. This time he's plunged to a brand-new, all-time low, quite literally: Justin tumbles down a giant hole and finds himself trapped underground in the darkest, dingiest, most abysmal abyss imaginable. With a few unlikely companions, he has to work together to claw his way back to the surface, feeling through caves and tunnels in the gloom while disaster stalks every step. The fifth book in the globally bestselling day-by-day series keeps the trademark riot of text, cartoons and photographs going, and adds interactive pages - spot-the-difference, colour-by-number and more - for readers to play along. Fast, daft and packed with slapstick, it's perfect for fans of Tom Gates, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Treehouse books, and reliably turns reluctant readers into page-turners.

Fit check

Right for your child?

Where it lands by age

For 8-11s reading independently, with the visual, joke-packed format and interactive pages keeping it very accessible for reluctant readers and confident younger ones. The underground-survival plot adds adventure tension to the usual comedy.

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  • Best fit · 8–11
  • Read aloud · 7–10
  • Independent · 8–11

Prose load

Light

Visual support

Very high

Reluctant-reader friendly

Very

Read-aloud quality

Workable

Works well for

  • Reading together
  • Gift-buying
  • Reluctant readers
Low sensitivityNo content warnings

Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.

Bedtime suitability

2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime

Sensitive-child

3 / 5 · Mostly fine

Graphic intensity

1 / 5 · None

Best for

  • Reluctant readers
  • Funny disaster comedy
  • Survival adventure
  • Wimpy kid fans

Avoid if

  • Wants gentle bedtime
  • Dislikes gross out humour

Particularly good for children who are…

  • Reluctant reader

Why it lands

Why they love it.

Why kids love it

Justin falls down a giant hole and has to feel his way out through pitch-black caves and tunnels with a band of unlikely companions. The claustrophobic peril, the escape stakes and the interactive puzzle pages make it a book you play as much as read.

  • Surviving danger
  • Adventure and freedom
  • The underdog winning

Why parents love it

The underground-escape plot brings proper adventure tension, and the built-in spot-the-difference and colour-by-number pages give a child something extra to do. Fast, image-heavy and harmless - a dependable choice for a reluctant reader.

  • Shared humour
  • Quick to read

In the series

Worst Week Ever!.

7 books · open the series →

About the creators

About the creators.

EA

Eva Amores

Writer · Australia

Eva Amores is a Filipino-Australian author, designer and photographer, based in Sydney, who co-creates the globally translated Worst Week Ever! series with her husband, the author-illustrator Matt Cosgrove. Born in the Philippines and educated in Australia, she worked in design and photography — including for the Sydney Opera House and the ABC — before turning to children's fiction. Worst Week Ever! chronicles hapless Justin Chase's spectacularly disastrous week one book at a time, told in a manic mash-up of text, cartoons and photographs. Fast, daft and stuffed with slapstick, gross-out gags and running jokes, the seven-part series is built to turn reluctant readers into page-turners, sitting comfortably alongside Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Tom Gates and the Treehouse books. Reliable, high-octane comedy for 8–11s.

More from Eva Amores
MC

Matt Cosgrove

Writer & illustrator · Australia

Matt Cosgrove is an Australian author-illustrator based in Sydney, best known for the bestselling Macca the Alpaca picture books and, with his wife Eva Amores, the globally translated Worst Week Ever! series. A former magazine creative director with a first-class design degree, Cosgrove brings a slick visual comic energy to Worst Week Ever!, which chronicles Justin Chase's spectacularly disastrous week one day at a time, in a manic mash-up of text, cartoons and photographs. Fast, daft and stuffed with slapstick, gross-out gags and running jokes, the books are built to turn reluctant readers into page-turners, and sit comfortably alongside Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Tom Gates and the Treehouse series. Reliable, high-octane comedy for 8–11s who want laughs on every page.

More from Matt Cosgrove

If you liked this

Three ways out of this book.

If you liked this, try…

Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.

Come into this from…

Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.

Where to go next…

Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.

Last reviewed · July 2026Suggest a correctionHow we recommend

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