posted on 02 Aug 2021

Goodfellows by Tim McLaughlin

When the Goodfellow family win an all-expenses paid trip to New York courtesy of a gangster-themed pizza chain, they get a more authentic experience than they had been expecting.

Deborah and Colin Goodfellow are planning a night out at one of the better restaurants for their the over-achieving daughter Camilla who is the light of their life. Tagging along is their other child, the somewhat under-achieving Michael who has definite slacker tendencies. Much to their chagrin there’s a glitch with the booking and they find themselves guided by Michael to a much more down-market but popular pizza restaurant – which is where they win their holiday.

The prize offers a generous package all wrapped up in a mock gangster theme – they will be met at the airport, given spending money and an escorted tour of the Big Apple. All well and good.

What they don’t know however is that, in a parallel development in New York, a real gangster boss is planning a jewellery heist that requires him to ship in some help from Chicago. And , yes, you might already have guessed that these Chicago goodfellas are going to get mixed-up with the wide-eyed, genteel middle-class British Goodfellows!

What follows is a delightful and amusing romp which sees the Goodfellow family gradually coming to realise what is happening to them. They discover that getting hold of a stash of stolen diamonds is a whole lot easier than returning them back to their rightful owners. And it turns out that Michael’s love for American television detective programmes is a positive asset In the New York underworld, so the rest of the family are forced to start getting streetwise in order to outwit Big T, Knuckles and the other mobsters they find themselves wrapped up with.

The book is published in the Barrington Stoke ‘super readable’ series which is aimed at reluctant readers – this one is guided for readers aged 8 and above – and the author, Tim McLaughlin is himself a dyslexic author. He’s not just a talented writer but he has also illustrated the book throughout and these drawings are an excellent addition for younger readers in particular.

The book is published in August and can be ordered from your local independent bookshop or you can go directly to the Barrington Stoke website and order it directly from them.

 

Terry Potter

August 2021