The cat mummy

I SOMETIMES TALK ABOUT MY MUM TO MABEL, BECAUSE MABEL DOESN'T EVER GET UPSET. Verity adores her cat, Mabel, and is desperately sad when she dies. Remembering her recent school lessons about the Ancient Egyptians, Verity decides to mummify Mabel and keep her hidden. Verity's dad and grandparents can't bear to talk about death, having lost Verity's mum in childbirth, but when they eventually discover what Verity has done with Mabel, the whole family learns that it's time to talk.

Utdrag ur boken:
I haven't got a mum. She died the day I was born. That's almost all I know. Gran still can't talk about Mum without her eyes going watery. Even Grandad cries. So I don't talk about my mum because I don't want to upset them.

I've got a dad but I don't see him all that often because he's left for work before I get up and he's nearly always still at work when I go to bed. I once heard Gran say my dad is married to his job. Just so long as he doesn't marry a real lady. I definitely don't want a stepmother.

I've read all about stepmothers in fairy stories. They don't have a good image. Laura's get a stepdad and she certainly doesn't think much of him. He's the one who put poor Dustbin on a diet. He even suggested Laura's mum should go on a diet and made her upset about having a big bottom - which she can't help.

Thank goodness Dad doesn't seem interested in any ladies, with big or little bottoms. He hardly ever talks about Mum but he once said she was the loveliest woman in the whole world and no-one could replace her. This was a great relief.

Medelbetyg: