Mimi Power and the I-Don't-Know-What by Victoria Miles

I'm a fan of Victoria Miles and her work.

I enjoyed Mimi Power, but there were times when I wanted to kill Waby, the little sister.

I don't recollect my two younger brothers or two younger sisters or either of my own two children being nearly so annoying!  (They are, after all, still alive.)

Mimi Power is 10 years old and has a seriously irritating 3 year old sister. Waby, (Lily Jean) can ruin any event or outing with instant hysteria when she doesn't get her own way. This causes problems for their whole family, but Mimi in particular since she narrates the story.

If you are a fan of Junie B Jones you will probably like this book. As annoying as she is, I admit that some of Waby's antics had me chuckling.

One chapter titled "Waby Goes to the Dentist" contains one sentence. "I don’t think I have to tell you how this went."

In another incident their father brought home a very expensive piece of prehistoric poop and Waby got her hands on it. I laughed out loud. I read parts of it to my partner much to his disgruntlement, since he was reading a "serious" book.

My complaint is that even while she worried about her art and buying clothes, Mimi herself didn't feel real to me. All of the humor and most of the grief comes about because of Waby. Perhaps it is because of this that Mimi's character never seems developed fully. What does come through is that these two girls love each other. (Perhaps this is why all little sisters and brothers survive?)

In spite of my piddling complaints, I can think of at least 5 kids off the top of my head I would recommend this book to.

This feels like the first in a series. I hope to get to know Mimi better in later books.

I'll read them, if only to find out what kind of mischief Waby gets herself into.