Hardback by Orion Children’s Books, priced £10.99 (ebook £5.99)
If you recognise Geoff Rodkey’s name, it may be because of his work as a screenwriter on the comedy film Daddy Day Care, or from his previous children’s adventure tales in The Chronicles Of Egg. This is the first book in the US author’s new series featuring the lives of the Tapper twins.
Going to war is not nice at all, even less so when the war is against your twin! But alas Reese and Claudia Tapper decide instead of just turning away, it is better to go at each other. At first, it’s just mild pranks and name calling – then it gets serious! Soon the twins are at full fire, and Claudia’s embarrassing secret is revealed to the whole school. And Reese’s backpack is smelling extremely fishy. Who will win in this large-scale twin tirade? Pick your side and prepare to battle!
I liked the fact that the author used the kids’ online messages and the parents’ texts to tell the story, and also how he wrote it from the different points of view of the characters.
It was clever although it sometimes did not work. Some of the lengths that the twins go to in their battle were a bit unrealistic. Also an argument between twins is not like a real war, so I think the author exaggerated quite a bit.