The Life of Riley: Beginner's Luck

Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award

A hilarious middle-grade novel about one boy's quest to get rid

of a ridiculous amount of bad luck!

After a traumatic run-in with the fortune teller

from a visiting funfair – thanks to an unfortunately-timed

sneeze – Riley finds himself CURSED.

Life as he knows it quickly becomes a catalogue of disasters

– from accidentally supergluing himself

to his classmates and ruining the

school football team’s sponsorship deal, to flooding

his house and losing class 4’s

pet rabbit – Riley knows the bad luck is out to get him.

Enter new kid: Brad Chicago. He’s super-cool, well-groomed

and stylish, with an excellent stationery collection. And for

some reason he wants to be Riley’s friend. Can Riley

get rid of the curse before Brad discovers he’s

a walking disaster?

Laugh-out-loud funny, warm-hearted and anarchic in a way that

readers will love.

Brought to life with Aleksei Bitskoff's lively, humorous illustrations.

Perfect for fans of Kid Normal, David Solomons' My

Brother is a Superhero and David Baddiel.

Award-winning author Simon James Green is best known for his

funny books for teens. This is his first book for middle-grade readers.