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Dad lives with his girlfriend, Nikki on the other side of the park. Mum hates Nikki, and Chloe and I pretend to, for Mum’s sake.

Anna and her sister live in a complicated world – one that will sound very familiar to a lot of girls. But Anna and her sister are twins, which makes it even more complex. ‘Coping with Chloe’ is a beautifully drawn picture of a young girl trying to work out the usual problems of the pressures of school and of friendships, battles and romances in the playground. There is a desperate need for family and loved ones to get along, and as we all know, they just won’t. There are school projects to rescue from cheating colleagues, there are bullies and fragile friends, and the anxieties and excitements of swimming lessons with a boy who’s becoming... important but…

It’s a terrible thing when romance cuts across the bonds of friendship, worse when it threatens to divide sisters – but just think how tricky that divide would be if your rival was living in your own body….

They both stopped and of course I had to stop with them, though I wished I could take off, fly over the trees, and be a hundred miles away. Can you imagine anything worse than to FEEL your twin sister kissing the boy you love?

There are many theories, many stories and many writings about the mysteries of twins but I don’t think I’ve ever read one quite so gripping as ‘Coping with Chloe’. You’ll find your mind and your heart working overtime, with Anna all the way, as she struggles to keep up with events, ahead of the danger, and in touch with her own self.

A well-crafted, sympathetically written thriller which tries out some extraordinary – but quite believable – ideas about the kinds of things that can go on in human heads. It says 11+ on the cover. Me, I’m 50, which counts as 11+, I guess.

Don’t worry how old you are, if you’re interested in humans, you’ll enjoy this book.

Coping with Chloe by Rosalie Warren
pub: Phoenix Yard
ISBN 978-1-907912-02-3
£6.99