Louis Beside Himself

When a burglar jumps through the kitchen window one night, Louis knows he should get him in a wrestling-hold while he has the advantage, but his heart is hammering and his legs feel like wobbly air... A larger-than-life story from Anna Fienberg, author of the classic Tashi series and Horrendo's Curse.

Louis's best mates, Singo and Hassan, are into basketball and skateboarding, and his dad is into arm-wrestling. Dad wants to build Louis up with wrestling moves like the Walls of Jericho or the Five Star Frog Splash, but Louis is better at flexing words than flexing his muscles.

This summer Louis is put to the test, starting with the Phenomenon of the broken mirror, leading to the Paralysing burglar incident, and finally the night when he comes face to face with Peril.

It's a wild week when the friends hide a runaway girl named Cordelia in the backyard tent, Dad falls for Doreen, and Louis tries the Top Roll Move on a big burly burglar.

Louis Beside Himself is a Hilarious and Companionable story about losing your words, finding your courage and arm-wrestling your way our of big trouble.

About the Author

Anna Fienberg began writing stories when she was only eight years old. She says: 'I've always had a passion for words. I used to collect them, like some people collect stamps. Certain words gave me a special, billionaire feeling, and when uttered, seemed to have a magical effect. But it was my son and his passion for wrestling that gave me the idea for this book. He and his friends spent hours rolling their eyeballs, poking out their tongues and scowling like the wrestling star, The Undertaker. They pounded, leaped on, crashed into, headlocked, and jumped over each other. The noise from the other end of the house was sometimes so alarming.