Life gets complicated for Bee (who thinks Dad and her two guinea pigs, Fifi and Lulu, are all that is needed for a perfect family) when Jazzi, her father’s girlfriend, moves in. This is a thoughtful and humorous story of a young girl dealing with numerous important life issues: her mother’s death, a new woman in her father’s life, and relationships with school friends. 2008 USBBY Outstanding International Books List, Children’s Book Council of Aus tralia’s 2007 Book of the Year: Young Readers. ca

Originally published by the University of Queensland Press Australia, in 2006.

" . . . You are going to be pleasant and helpful, Bee, and not chase Jazzi away. I like Jazzi. I want her to be a permanent fixture in our lives and I don't want any bratty, selfish behaviour from you spoiling things . . . "Since her mother died, it'd been just her, her dad and her guinea pigs, Lulu and Fifi. A perfect, non-nuclear family. Exactly how Bee liked it. Nothing stays the same forever though, and when Jazzi moves in, bringing with her a whole new way of looking at the world and a whole lot of secrets, Bee knows things are going to be completely different from now on.But change can be a scary thing, and when someone reaches out to you, sometimes the hardest thing to do is to take their hand.This heartwarming, humorous and vibrant story from award winning author Catherine Bateson reminds us that love comes in many shapes and sizes . . . . . . even in the form of guinea pigs.