Pizza Pete and the Perilous Potions: WINNER OF THE WEEK JUNIOR YOUNGER FICTION AWARD

By Author / Illustrator

Carrie Sellon, Sarah Horne

Genre

Friends and family

Age range(s)

Publisher

Guppy Publishing

ISBN

9781913101954

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

08-06-2023

Synopsis

Twenty-five days ago, something awful happened, and I made a promise to myself. Never to leave home again....

Pete loves the pizza shop, where he lives with his dad, and is terrified of the outside world. But when a new restaurant steals their customers, Pete and his friend Anna have to come up with an INGENIOUS plan to sell more pizzas, otherwise he'll be forced to move.

When they find a mysterious briefcase in the attic, they create the most extraordinary magical pizzas, and soon a queue of customers snakes down the road. But can they make enough money in four days to save Pete's home? Throw in an exploding headmistress, a fire-breathing dog and a vengeful bully and Pete's life soon ramps up from Margherita to Spicy Pepperoni!

Pizza Pete and the Perilous Potions won The Week Junior Fiction Award.

Reviews

Beverley

Pete lives with his dad, who runs a pizza shop, which is losing business due to competition from a new pizza chain opening nearby. Pete loves his home more than anything; after a traumatic event he refuses to go to school and his home is his haven. Then dad tells him that they may lose everything because they owe money to the bank.

Determined to save their home and business, Pete discovers a briefcase full of mysterious potions in the attic. When drops of the potions are added to slices of pizza, those who eat them develop wonderful traits - intelligence, agility, shrinking, growth to name but a few. Pete decides that this could be the way to save their livelihood, with weird, wacky and hilarious results.

Pizza Pete and the Perilous Potions is a really great book, beautifully written and full of humour. Pete is a brilliant character; he is a clever boy but has issues with anxiety and misses the mother who died when he was vey young. His best friend, Anna, is another great addition to the book, feisty and protective of Pete, she can be overbearing at times but her heart is always in the right place. Pete has a wonderful relationship with his father, and there are some very touching moments between them within the story.

The book moves along at a fast pace, with one funny episode after another. We meet exploding head teachers, cartwheeling grannies, a fire breathing dog and a boy who turns into a pig. The author writes so cleverly, we believe every far-fetched thing that happens, and the reader is rooting for Pete the whole way through the book.

A story full of friendship, humour and heart, this is a perfect book for reading aloud and sharing, but will be enjoyed equally by a more confident independent reader. Sarah Horne's lovely illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait to read the sequel. Highly recommended.

244 pages / Reviewed by Beverley Somerset, school librarian