Books with the Boy: I Swapped My Brother on the Internet

Today is my slot on the blog tour for I Swapped My Brother on the Internet by Jo Simmons, which S and I have been reading together.

The Book:

Everyone has dreamed of being able to get rid of their brother or sister at one time or another – but for Jonny, the dream is about to become a reality with SiblingSwap.com! What could be better?
Finding the perfect brother isn’t easy, though, as Jonny discovers when Sibling Swap sends him a series of increasingly bizarre replacements for his brother Ted, including:
A merboy
A brother raised by meerkats
The ghost of Henry the Eight!
Suddenly old Ted isn’t looking so bad. But can Jonny ever get him back?

My Thoughts:

I thought this was a really well-written and imaginative story that was perfectly pitched for the age group. I really enjoyed the addition of some history with Henry VIII (S didn’t really get the history of that section, but I was howling with laughter), and I thought the non-human brothers (a merboy, a boy raised by meerkats and a ghost) were a stroke of genius. It really made S and I think about the pitfalls of having a non-human brother and how difficult they would be to live with. I loved the idea of being able to swap your sibling on the internet and it raised some issues for us to talk about (although S doesn’t have any siblings, he did think about whether he would get a better deal by swapping our dog on the internet – but we decided a dragon would probably burn the house down). I adored Jonny’s quest for the perfect brother, and his ultimate realisation that Ted might just be the perfect one after all. This was a lovely story to read with S and we really enjoyed it, and I think it would be perfect for anyone who is considering swapping their sibling.

S’s Thoughts:

I like the way that Sibling (parent note, S says Swibling which is really cute) Swap was really kind because they let you swap your brother when you don’t like them and get a new one. And it was more kind when they let Jonny tick the human box because he forgot to and then sent him a new brother. I am sad that he got Ted back though because I thought Alfie was a better brother because he is a human and he is the best boy ever. I don’t like Ted because he is always saying that Jonny is a loser and that is a mean thing to say to your brother. My favourite not human brother is the meerkat one because meerkats are really funny and he tried to dig a hole in the sandpit and that is just stupid. I thought this book was really funny with all the silly brothers that get sent.

Thanks to Jo Simmons and Faye for the review copy and for having us on the blog tour.

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