Eleven Plus

Emma absolutely hates being eleven. She has helped look after her twin brothers since they were born, but she can't baby-sit for real until she is twelve. Eleven comes with so many complications. There are the corrective soles, hidden in a mailbox each morning on her way to catch the school bus, and if she is cranky, her mother blames it on the fact that she will soon have her first monthly period. Emma decides that she just isn't going to have one - ever.But most of Emma's problems...
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Emma absolutely hates being eleven. She has helped look after her twin brothers since they were born, but she can't baby-sit for real until she is twelve. Eleven comes with so many complications. There are the corrective soles, hidden in a mailbox each morning on her way to catch the school bus, and if she is cranky, her mother blames it on the fact that she will soon have her first monthly period. Emma decides that she just isn't going to have one - ever.But most of Emma's problems begin when she accompanies her father to an auction where, on the spur of the moment, he successfully bids on a horse with a broken tail. The horse, named Star by Emma, has been mistreated by its previous owners. It kicks out at the least provocation and is a dangerous animal in the neighbor's field where it is pastured. Emma has sworn the girls next door to secrecy so that Star won't be sent back to the auction.Emma gets a job picking berries in order to buy a saddle. She hates keeping more secrets from her parents but if she wants to earn money, she can't tell about the old man in the berry patch who pinched her bum and she can't tell about being fired either. She has to sort these things out for herself.