Author(s): Kate De Goldi

NZ Children's

New Zealand Post Book Awards Picture Book 2005. At Lorenza (Lolly) Leopold's school every March the clubs epidemic breaks out "like a giant nit plague... everyone's infected. Not me. I must be inoculated". With the Barbie Club, Lego Club, Kitten Club and Harry Potter Club all having their own weird rules, what would a cynical girl do in protest at their silliness but form the Grass Growing Spectators' Club (membership 3). An eclectic cast of characters - a seriously cool teacher, Ms Love (a trumpet-playing bogan with a tuatara tattoo), and obese family cat, Laughing Stock, and Lolly's friends Noryb and Eleda (backward spelling is a club rule) - feature in this wryly observed and visually slick picture book for readers aged 6 to 12. De Goldi is an acclaimed author, critic and scholar of children's literature, and the marriage of her zingy text and Jacqui Colley's funky, colourful art establishes Clubs as a unique genre in New Zealand publishing. Pure brilliance. First published 2004.