All that changes when Ben finds a tin of jewellery in Granny's cupboard from when, Granny tells him, she was a famous cat burglar. Being an international jewel thief is never easy, Granny tells Ben, and he finds out just how difficult as David Walliams' hilarious Gangsta Granny progresses.
Ben's parents are puzzled, too, because their only child is suddenly mad keen to get to Granny's while they go dancing on Friday nights. If only they knew, they might not be quite so keen to drop him off and head for the dance hall.
They want Ben to star in Strictly Stars Dancing but he wants to be a plumber - and his plumbing skills come in handy towards the end of the book, which has a delightful twist in its conclusion. Great fun for readers in the 7 to 10 age group.
With Sapphire Battersea, the second in her Hetty Feather saga, Jacqueline Wilson has produced a story that stands alone, not demanding that the first book (Hetty Feather) be read to make sense of the second.
At the end, though, readers in the 9 to 12 age group will be eager to find out what happens to Hetty, now calling herself Sapphire Battersea.
In 1876, Hetty/Sapphire was left at a foundling hospital by her mother.
Her experiences there formed the basis of the first tale.
Clutching her precious journal, she is now thrust out to earn her living as a maid.
Alas, that fails, but the girl manages to make her way in the world in rather unconventional ways.
A super story from an accomplished writer, Sapphire Battersea is enhanced by its well-drawn picture of working-class Victorian England.
- Gillian Vine is a Dunedin writer
