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Not My Fault

Book
Not My Fault by Cath Howe

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By Cath Howe

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50 reviews

Maya and Rose won’t talk to each other.

Even though they are sisters.

Not since the accident.

Maya is running wild, and Rose doesn’t know what to do.

Now Maya and Rose have to go away together on a week-long school journey. But will the trip – and a life-threatening adventure – fix their relationship… or break it for good?

An uplifting story of family, forgiveness, and finding out who you are, from the author of the highly-acclaimed Ella on the Outside.

Praise for Ella on the Outside:

""A perfectly-pitched, thoughtful story with a big heart."" – Katherine Woodfine, author of The Clockwork Sparrow

""It’s impossible not to root for Ella to be brave and make the right decisions, and the urge to find out whether she will powers this warm, considered and entertaining novel."" – BookTrust

Also by Cath Howe:

Ella on the Outside

How to be Me

Reviews

29 Jan 2025

Heartwarming story of two sisters coming back together

07 Aug 2024

This book is about two sisters who go on a week long school trip together to try and fix their relationship. When Maya runs away, it's up to Rose to save them. I really liked this book because it feels like it could be real, and the author gives you a real sense of what the characters are feeling.

29 Aug 2023

I liked this book. I liked the ending

24 Aug 2023

I would definitely recommend it’s super easy to read.

18 Aug 2023

it was funny

04 Aug 2023

I liked Maya best . I recommend it to anyone who likes storys with a deeper meaning .

03 Aug 2023

This is a really good book! It's about two sisters who were playing on a roundabout at a park then one of them suddenly getting majorly hurt. After that they don't talk to each other at all and absolutely hate each other. Until they both go on a school residential together and something crazy happens! 5/5

25 Jul 2023

I loved this book. It really expresses the differences between siblings and that sometimes it is ok to be different. I would definately recommend it.

19 Jul 2023

i think this book is realy nice and i love the character Rose because she is blameing herself of what happened to her sister and what Clemmy is doing to get revenge

18 Jul 2023

I like the book because there was tension between maya and rose but then they forgave each other because of bonnie. My favourite character was Rose because she tried to be nice but her friend forced her to do things. I would recommend it to other people.

14 Feb 2023

This book is about a girl called Rose and how a little accident broke her sister's and her friendship. It explains how her sister, Maya, fell from a merry-go-round because Rose pushed her a little too hard. Rose has to go through a hard time because now she has to go on a school trip with her sister. I noticed that forgiveness and friendship were some of the themes in the book. My favourite character was Rose, because she wanted to protect Maya instead of getting Maya into trouble because Maya did bad things to her. I would recommend this book to everyone.

16 Sep 2022

This book was all about two sisters, Maya and Rose. They have been worst enemies since Rose accidentally sent Maya flying off a roundabout, nearly killing her! They go away and Maya spoils everything, but then … someone nearly dies! An amazing book that hooked me in very easily.

04 Sep 2022

I liked this because it was told in two people perspective. It is about two sisters who don't get on and one of them has an accident which the other sister feels responsible for. I thought this book was very emotional

31 Aug 2022

This book is about 2 sisters who won’t talk to each other because Rose pushed Mya off the roundabout and she fell off and got her leg trapped. Now Mya has a robotic ankle and Rose feels bad. They have to go in a week long school trip together and spending time together makes them not want to talk to each other even more until Mya gets trapped in the sea…
I liked this book because it showed that even though they wouldn’t talk to each other, they had a strong relationship.

22 Aug 2022

About two sister who go on a residential trip to wales, will they get along

18 Aug 2022

Love it! It was classic family drama. Great opinions in both the girls and enjoyed the dual POV.

14 Aug 2022

TL9346

Rose and Maya Sheridan inseparable sisters, just 11 months apart in age and in the same school year. Until the accident...until Maya screamed...until Maya had to have operations on her leg...until the wheelchair...until the leg that doesn't work properly any more.

Rose and Maya are at war. Rose thinks she's the awful one and yet she has to watch out for Maya. Maya thinkss Rose is a goody goody and it's all her fault that she can't do the things that everyone else can.

Then comes "the school journey" to Whitesands, an activity camp. Maya as usual is being difficult even before they leave. Then Rose says about a gym competition but it's the same time as Maya's drama group. This starts chaos at the breakfast table. They leave but again Maya is difficult. Mum tells Rose to keep an eye on her. Easier said than done! Although Rose is on the receiving end of Maya's nastiness most of the time because you can see the nice side of Maya when she is with Bonnie, who has a 1:1 helper, Miss Stewart.

At the camp things get worse and Maya is always in the centre. But Maya's leg gets worse too but she doesn't tell anyone but someone is watching and knows already. Rose is fed up with Clemmy who keeps dobbing Maya in to the teachers and telling Rose what to do. Then comes the talent show....Maya leaves the building but Bonnie follows, Maya tells her to go away but she wants to go to...they walk across the causeway to the island but Rose has seen them and goes after them. Now what will they do? How will they get off the island? Bonnie surprises them both. But can Rose and Maya surprise everyone?

I have loved the Cath Howe books, each thinking carefully about friendships and how they work. These were donated to my school by an ex-pupil.

01 Aug 2022

This book was a really good book for me, because I like reading about friendship stories as they usually have two friends that fall out and they don't know what to do. This one was the same, but there were so many things to deal with for both sisters, as well as their huge fall-out since the 'accident'. Personally, out of the two sisters, I prefer Rose, because she doesn't hate Maya like Maya hates her, she just wants to help her throughout the story, even when Maya is being so mean to her, which is the reason I am not so keen on Maya. But the reason I do like Maya is because she is very clever and quick-witted. Although I know it was wrong of her and that that counts towards being a cheat, I think it was smart of her to do all those things like flush the Eagles' piece of charcoal down the toilet (I know it caused a serious problem too). My least favourite character is definitely Clemmy, because she forces Rose to tell a teacher (I am pleased that Rose managed to finally fight back and tell her the truth) about Maya. I am also sure that Clemmy is deliberately mean to Maya more than once and probably even towards Rose. I like the ending rather a lot and recommend this book to anyone who likes friendship books.

08 Jun 2022

Lady Kiki Pineapple

It was about two girls who had an accident on a round about. The go on a trip together but will not ne with each other.

24 Dec 2021

Good great Christmas

08 Sep 2021

Really good book and I loved the twist at the end and the seal stories were really good too! It just was an overall really good story.

27 Aug 2021

This book was really interesting as Maya and Rose had an accident that they don’t want to talk about. Maya injured her leg and always got scolded even though it wasn’t her fault.

07 Aug 2021

An uplifting story of family, forgiveness, and finding out who you are, from the author of the highly-acclaimed Ella on the Outside.

01 Aug 2021

I thought this book was very emotional, had lots of cliff hangers and made me want to read on!!

24 Jul 2021

I really I like this book because it explains how Sisters do sometimes fight. I found this book really funny and I liked bonnie

13 Jul 2021

i loved it!

04 Jan 2021

I really enjoyed this book and i would recommend it. My favourite character would be Rose as she wasn't as crazy as Maya and i liked how she wanted to bond more with her sister. This book was amazing because it told you to be kind to everyone and about friendship. I would definitely recommend this book as it is amazing and has a fantastic story line and amazing twists.

03 Jan 2021

The book is about two sisters quarreling over a life changing issue and rebounding. It is a beautiful read which is very touching.

28 Dec 2020

Two enemy sisters in a life threatening mission. Will they get along???

14 Dec 2020

I enjoyed reading this book as it starts with a problem but by the end of the story is much happier. My favourite character is Rose as she has to deal with Maya being mad with her even though what she did was an accident. I recommend this book to anybody who likes stories that you can emphasise with age 8 and above.

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