Beware of what you wish for; Simon, the young hero of this splendidly engaging book, is being driven mad by his little sister, Anna. He suddenly remembers an old story that contains a ‘rhyme for getting rid of annoying siblings’. And the next thing he knows, Anna has vanished. This is guaranteed to strike a chord with any reader who has wished they could get rid of a tiresome brother or sister. 

But of course he didn’t mean it – the thing about annoying siblings is that you can’t live without them either. Some dark force has whisked Anna away and Simon, in agonies of guilt, is forced to acknowledge how much he loves her. What can he tell their parents? The