We have previously read and enjoyed The Day The Screens Went Blank by the same author and the boys have read the Hamish series by him as well.

This book was once again, full of fun and me and Riley enjoyed the read, laughing lots. Joss appears confident and a bit of a know it all - but underneath we learn she is actually quite nervous about her imminent move to high school and the changes that will bring, as well as her not being able to let loose and enjoy being a kid!

The opportunity to run a company for a week is one I think most kids would jump at, and while nervous at first, Joss's ideas are entertaining and GOOD - reminding everyone that a bit of fun is needed by us all.

We loved it and would definitely recommend - plenty of laughs and some sweet little life lessons in there as well, both for the kids and adults reading!

Joss is a kind of girl who seems to have hothoused herself, to the extent she is confident in her abilities to win every academic and voluntary award at school, and to correct her teachers in their ways – even her headteacher, who is also her mother. So mother is damned glad there's a "Take Your Children to Work" day, which means Joss can be offloaded on the dad, who works for a toy company. Lo and behold, things conspire to leave her running the firm for a whole week. The end results are as arch and comedic as you'd wish for.

What we have is a rollicking drama about whether Joss will succeed or not, and how, and a complete inversion of the world as the target reader will know it. For Joss will go to the humdrum office with ideas of uniforms, break times, weekly awards such as she gets at school – and of course the chance to use adult language, like "you've let me down, you've let the team down, but most of all you've let yourself down". It's a book that doesn't try too hard to show the inversion of all this, or the idiocy of either worklife or school days, but riffs successfully on this matter for a couple of hundred speedily read pages, and makes for a satisfying comedy. Four stars plus.

I have just finished this with my son.
We read it at bedtime for a week and we laughed so much. My son got excited at the prospect of becoming the boss that i let him be the boss for an hour!
Danny Wallace really gets in touch with the children's imagination giving them the confidence that they really can become the characters they read.
This book will be a great light hearted holiday read.

This made me chuckle a canny few times! Joss ends up being the boss of the place her dad works and what happens isn’t what you expect to happen when a 10 year old takes over! This is funny, charming and gorgeously illustrated by Gemma Correll. I honestly think there’s a lot of me in Joss - both as a ten year old and a teacher, ha.

Superb new what-if about what would happen if a child were in charge.

I think between me and my eldest, we've read all his children's titles (and most of his adult ones). This may be his shortest, but I thought it was brilliant.

Joss is a great creation - the perfect (kind of) student - she answers questions, helps the teacher, tries her hardest.... but she also comments on other students' poor performances, doesn't feel there's a place in school for fun ("a classroom pet is not supposed to be fun - it is merely a way of developing responsibility,"), and hangs out with the headteacher in her office as much as possible. And the Head can't easily stop this... as she is Joss's mum.

But Joss's (clearly exasperated) Head sees a small ray of sun shining through - a Take Your Child to Work Day. Aha - Dad's turn! Joss reluctantly accompanies Bob (aka Dad) to his office at a toy company. And is dismayed to see how grey and demoralised everyone is. When the Big Boss puts Joss in charge for the day, you can imagine that this model of efficiency and discipline will bring her own take on working life to her dad's workplace.

And maybe have some unexpected effects.

Oh I did enjoy this. I loved the sly humour here that adults will pick up on if they are reading along with kids, and that some older readers will also see. But there's also a vulnerable little girl here, with her own worries about secondary school, about a lack of friends, about her inability to relate to others. Younger readers will miss that and love seeing Joss apply school principles and techniques (breaktime! toys!) to an adult context.

This had moments of great sweetness, and Joss becomes more and more likeable as she herself grows as a character in the slight context of this short novel. I loved that both adult and child preoccupations and problems are aired and discussed here, and handled really well for a child reader to be able to comprehend.

I felt for both her parents, but she is sympathetic and this could have very wide appeal in terms of an age range. I'd read this to my nearly 6-year-old but also give it to my 12-year-old to enjoy on different levels.

Nice one, Wallace.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

I'm a big Danny Wallace fan and love his Hamish books. Gosh, this was a fun read. I can see lots of educators recognising characters and I laughed out loud several times. Definitely a read for KS2 children. I'll be getting a copy for our library.