This new series from Australia is Hating Alison Ashley meets Dork Diaries with a dash of Matilda.

Hi! I’m Stella and yes, I’ll admit it. I sprayed the class guinea pig with fire extinguisher foam (who knew those things actually worked?). Now I’ve been forced to enter the school talent show as punishment. You know who usually wins? My arch rival, Ricky-Lee Ventura, who has the voice of an angel. But wait! If I can get help from my (sort of crazy) dog and my (kind of odd) friends, I have a brilliant idea…

PS Warning: this book is probably going to make you laugh till you cry. Yes. No. Really.

Stella’s excess energy and a mishap with a fire extinguisher (and the class guinea pig) have caught the attention of Principal Hinchliffe. In a bid to channel some of that energy into less destructive areas, Stella is given the challenge of creating a play for the annual talent show. The result is a hilarious romp of misbehaving dogs, fart books, the musical Cats and Instagloat, the must-have app of the moment. The book explores friendship issues, problem solving, team work and discovering who you are.

Richard Newsome lives in Brisbane and has worked as a journalist for daily newspapers, radio and TV; as a consultant with one of the world’s foremost strategy consultancies; and as communications director of a multinational media company.

Richard’s debut middle grade novel, The Billionaire’s Curse, won the inaugural Text Prize for Children’s and Young Adult writing, as well as the Esther Glen medal, New Zealand’s oldest literary award. The series of six books went on to sell more than 36,000 copies in Australia and New Zealand alone, and has sold to publishers in the United States, Canada, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain and Turkey.

Stella the Unstoppable and The Talent Show Fiasco is his first chapter book for younger readers.