The Incredible Record Smashers was the first book I'd read by Jenny Pearson and it was so good that I immediately bought and read The Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates as soon as I had finished it. Her writing is so brilliantly funny and full of feeling.
Lucy, who is great at fixing electronics, finds herself sent home from school for punching her class mate Billy in the face after he asks why she can't fix her mum. With her mum's mental health struggles, it is not an easy life for Lucy, who ends up being taken in by Aunty Sheila. She promises herself then that she will fix her mum, and not just to put an end to Auntie Sheila's terrible 'cooking'. When Lucy finds a photo of her mum smiling and happy, with former pop-star and Record Smashers judge Paul Castellini, Lucy is determined to appear on his TV show so she can invite him round for tea. The only problem is, she has to be able to break a Guinness World Record first but luckily, her next door neighbour is an expert in this area.
This heartwarming book is perfect for 9+ readers: the characters are incredibly well written; it deals with some big themes in a sensitive way; it is full of fun facts about crazy world records; it will make you laugh out loud. I can't wait to read it to my class when it is out in March.

In this fun, laugh out loud story follow the Lucy and her friend Sandesh as they hatch a crazy plan to try and get on the top TV show “Record Smashers” in the hope that by meeting the host will help fix Lucy’s mum. As with plans made by children who don’t know the full story of the problem they are trying to solve, they get the wrong end of the stick. This makes it even funnier, but very touching at the same time. As the story unfolds we learn of the problem that Lucy is trying to fix for her mum. Readers are able to read and understand at different levels, but it is great introduction to discussions on mental health and depression in adults. Hopefully children who identify with Lucy or Sandesh will realize that they are not alone with their problems and is dealt with in a sensitive way.

As well as dealing with the sensitive topic of depression, the story is also a powerful one of friendships and family. Lucy is so wrapped up in her own problems, that she does not see what a great friend Sandesh is being to her and that he also is suffering from lack of parental support as he is staying with his grandparents as his own parents are travelling for work.

A great book filled with humour and super interesting Guiness Book of Record facts.

Jenny Pearson knows how to write a good children’s book.
Such humour and great plots. Me and my son read this together and we were in fits of giggles through out.
Definitely one for the bookshelf.

Jenny Pearson has done it again with the second instalment in the Freddie Yates series. With bucketfuls of humour and interesting facts it kept myself and my son engaged throughout.

Touches on sensitive matters in a tactful way, powerful book about family and friendship. We really enjoyed this book and would recommend it. Having met the Jenny and her lovely family a few times its nice to be able to say that the author is lovely when her recommending books.

Thank you to publishers for ARC

This is the story of Lucy, who is living with her Mum's friend Sheila as her mum is getting support for mental health. Lucy is desperate to make her mum happy and there begins an adventure with Sandesh to break a world record and meet the person she believes can make her mum happy.
This is a wonderful story, touching and relevant whilst also being very funny. I loved the relationships throughout the story, bit particularly Lucy and Sandesh. I read this with my 9yo son, who said he didn't like it, he LOVED it!

Jenny Pearson has done it again. This book is full of laugh out loud moments, involving engaging characters you will be rooting for throughout the story but it also covers serious issues with sensitivity and subtlety.

Lucy, the main character is joined by her friend Sandesh as they attempt to get onto the TV show Record Smashers. Lucy only has one thing on her mind, and that is fixing her mum who has mental health issues. Lucy has an amazing plan to help her mum and it involves Paul Castellini, former pop star and judge of Record Smashers. Lucy and Sandesh go through many hilarious challenges in their bid to find a way to get onto the TV show. There are a host of other characters in the book who add to the adventure in their own way.

What I like about this book is that the characters are likeable and Jenny Pearson doesn't shy away from the issues of mental health and how having a parent with mental health issues can affect a child. She does this with skilful writing as the story is full of laughs as well and comedy is the main driver of the story.

There are lots of similarities with Jenny's excellent debut novel 'The incredible journey of Freddie Yates' which also tackles serious issues with the same sensitivity and subtlety-in Freddie Yates it is grief that is explored, in Record Smashers it is mental health but both books also tackle the idea of family and friendship and what it actually means. Record Smashers has a familiar style to Freddie Yates and initially the plot development felt quite similar but there are some surprising plot twists in this story which were very entertaining and although both books are funny books covering serious issues, they are very much individual stories and both very rewarding reads.

As a teacher I think this could be a valuable book for the classroom. I recognised some of the character traits that I saw in Lucy-I have seen in children who are living with parents that have mental health issues and this book could be a way to show them that they are not alone and remind them that there are people surrounding them that can help and support them.

Overall, I think this is an excellent book and can recommend it for aged 9+. It will be out in March 2021 and is published by Usborne. You can pre order it now.

'Freddie Yates' was one of the standout children's books of 2020 and 'Record Smashers' will follow suit in 2021.
Heartbreaking, hopeful, and record breakingly funny, it reminds us all that it's okay to not be okay and that happiness can be found in the least expected places & moments. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to put googly eyes on a watermelon called Norriss and look up wether there's a world record for how many fruit pastilles you can eat in a minute....

Thank you to Usborne and NetGalley UK for the ebook to review.

The Incredible Record Smashers is a laugh-out-loud story that hits the reader right in the heart. Bravely addressing a challenge so many children face, Jenny Pearson skilfully leads Lucy on a journey of discovery. Caring for a parent struggling with depression is hard. This story does not shy away from that. Through humour, empathy and care, readers work with Lucy to find out what exactly makes someone happy.

Friendship is at the heart of this story. With the charming Sandesh by her side, Lucy is encouraged to reach inside herself and discover just how much she is capable of. Who doesn’t love a world record? The Guinness Book of World Records is probably the most read book in any primary classroom! There are records a plenty in The Incredible Record Smashers. With tips, tricks and “Do NOT Try This at Home” safety warnings, there is something for everyone! (We’re definitely going to try the chocolate orange record at our house!)

The Incredible Record Smashers is packed full of meaning and is sure to be loved by so many readers. It is the perfect follow-up to The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates – hilarious hijinks with a powerful message.

Thank you to NetGalley and Usborne Publishing for this incredible book!

This book is a strong and powerful book about family and friendship, has lots of humour and full on interesting facts. This book is particularly good for children who may have a parent who suffers from depression or for helping children to understand depression in adults. I really enjoyed this book and recommend all books from this author.

This is hot on the heels of The Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates which was laugh out loud funny, endearing and a brilliant uplifting story.
The Incredible Record Smashers is a fantastic second book for Jenny Pearson.

When Lucy punches classmate Billy on the nose, she is sent home, unable to finish the last two days of year 6. Billy, in my opinion, deserved the “fiery fists of fury” for asking why Lucy is unable to fix her mum. Mum isn’t broken but just really sad and this time, Lucy must move in with Aunty Sheila so her mum can get some much needed support.
Determined to make her Mum happy, Lucy launches a project for her and new friend Sandesh. She is convinced the key to her mother’s happiness lies with the host of the new TV Show, Record Smashers. All she needs is to find a talent or skill so she can get on TV. Testing everything from head butting watermelons to pegs stuck to her face, Lucy is growing despondent until Sandesh throws a bean and Lucy catches it in her mouth. With only days to spare, the pair apply to be on the show, send in a video and make plans to escape to London.
As a side story, Sandesh has bought a mobile phone from a car boot sale and is getting plenty of phone calls and texts from someone called Stan. Stan is ready for the details of the drop point for the AWP. Deleting these and not paying them much attention will be cause for concern later in the story.
I can totally attest to the brilliance of this book....there are essentially two stories running together, both with fits of comedic hilarity and the trials and tribulations of new friendships. Not to mention the reason for the story entirely, the effects of depression on a family. There are some poignant moments where Lucy mourns the distance from her mum, where Aunty Sheila shows her what love looks like and when Sandesh proves why he is best friend material.
In between sobs, I was giggling. All throughout this book, I was entranced by Lucy and her over zealous plans to “fix” her mum only realising it was her happiness at stake as well.

I loved it so much! I cannot wait to see what Jenny Pearson writes next but if it is with the same heart and comedic spirit then it will be a huge success!

I haven’t requested many reads from Net Galley recently: partly because I ‘ve been trying to reduce the size of my physical TBR pile and partly because many of the titles haven’t appealed. Up until now, that is.

Jenny Pearson’s debut book The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates, was the stand out funny book of the year for me – a laugh-out-loud tale of a boy’s mission to find his biological father, packed full of slapstick humour and I was desperate to know if this would be written in a similar vein. While I did not find it as hysterically funny as the first book, I absolutely loved it because it is a much deeper read – a fabulously heart-warming story of how far one girl is prepared to go because of the deep love she feels for her mother.

That girl is Lucy, who when we meet her has just been excluded from school – an unfortunate event at any time in a child’s young life, but especially unfortunate at the very end of Year 6 with its traditional rituals and rites of passage. Lucy is not the type of child one might assume would find themselves in trouble but after being pushed too far by classmate Billy Griggs, she has punched him on the nose. The cause of this altercation is a smart alec remark in response to an end-of-year presentation Lucy has given. After sitting through her peers’ attempts – all of which she has considered to be of a poor standard with the exception of classmate Sandesh’s – Billy asks her why, when she demonstrates she has a clear talent for fixing things, she has been unable to ‘fix’ her mother, Lily.

Collected from school by Auntie Sheila, Lucy vows to herself on the way home that she will fix her mum – she just needs to ‘figure out how’. Sadly, on returning home, it is clear that Lily is very unwell and when Sheila gently asks if she needs help she replies: ‘Yes, I think I’d really like that,’ before apologetically telling Lucy she is: ‘ever so broken.’ And so, at the start of the summer holidays, Lucy finds herself staying at Auntie Sheila’s; not for the first time.

After a surprise pretend ‘gas attack’ from catastrophiser Sheila, Lucy is further taken aback by the revelation that Sandesh has been invited round for a ‘play date’ by her temporary guardian since his grandparents, with whom he is staying, are neighbours of hers. Initially irritated by this, Lucy and Sandesh soon become firm friends and it is to him that she turns in her attempts to fix her mother after discovering a photo of Lily with singer Paul Castellini bearing the message: ‘You are my happiness.’ For Mr Castellini is one of the judges on reality show Record Smashers – a programme where members of the public attempt to break records in order to win their 15 minutes of fame and Lucy believes that by reuniting the two adults, Lily’s restoration to true happiness is bound to be the outcome.

Having decided to get themselves onto the show, it only remains to find a record to break and Lucy and Sandesh together try out various things before settling on one involving kumquats, if only because nobody has set a record up until now involving the small citrus fruit. As their opportunity to shine and impress the crooner approaches, will Lucy’s tactics bring about the result she seeks and will she and Sandesh get to the bottom of the strange messages he is receiving on a second-hand mobile phone bought at a car boot sale?

In common with the superb Boy Under Water by Adam Baron, this book tackles the subject of a breakdown in parental mental health in an extremely sensitive and age-appropriate way but this read balances the seriousness of that with glorious moments of humour. It is much to the credit of Jenny Pearson that she has got that balance absolutely spot on – had this been filled with the same level of farcical happenings as Freddie Yates, this would’ve been a much poorer read. Don’t get me wrong – in saying this I do not mean that this is in any way second best to Jenny’s first book; it is different and that is a good thing – a sibling rather than a twin.

With the inclusion of Auntie Sheila and all of her wonderful eccentricities, Lucy has a guardian fighting in her corner who is empathetic but not overly so. Many children would adore to have a significant adult in their lives with whom they can be themselves and have fun in the way that Lucy does – one who is not nagging about homework and tidy bedrooms but whose idea of an appropriate place for her young guest to lay her head is a sleeping bag in a canoe. Throughout the book, it is Sheila who very often provides the humour with what many children will consider to be her unconventional appearance and unusual lifestyle choices. With so many guardians in books portrayed as unsympathetic characters, it is refreshing to have one who is utterly reliable without being too good to be true.

Sandesh also has a vital role to play in the story. While he is totally supportive of Lucy, she is so absorbed by her mission to free her mother from the constraints of her depression that she does not recognise that he too is lacking in parental attention while he stays with his grandparents. Although many children may not recognise that in any of their own friendships there is often a disparity – one child gives while the other is only too happy to take – they should recognise it here and I think if this were to be used as a class reader, this would be a perfect starting point to spark some discussions about friendships – especially in year 6 ahead of transition to high school – as well as talking about the importance of caring for our mental health.

My only disappointment with this read is that the illustrations by Erica Salcedo promised on the cover have yet to be included but this is only a very minor disappointment and one that will be very easily rectified by my purchasing a copy when this is published on March 4th next year. This is definitely a book I want to include on my little library shelf – a fabulously entertaining story with the potential for a great deal of discussion with my class and one most worthy of a ‘smashing’ 5 out of 5 stars.

As always, enormous thanks must go to both Net Galley and to Usborne Children’s Books for allowing me to read and review this ahead of publication.