Karen McCombie

(born August 1963 - ) - Aberdeen

Karen Grace McCombie is a best-selling children's and YA novelist, originally from Aberdeen and now living and working in London. After studying Graphic Design and Communication, she became a journalist, writing for a number of girl's magazines such as J17 and Sugar. She wrote on subjects ranging from fashion to pets, quizzes to features.

In the late 1990s McCombie was asked to write short stories for Sugar magazine, which formed the basis of a series of novels written under a pseudonym for Scholastic books. She now writes full-time, and has a number of different series, including Ally's World, Stella Etc, Sadie Rocks! and Indie Kidd, as well as a number of stand-alone novels.

Karen McCombie lives in North London with her husband, daughter and two cats.

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  Amber And The Hot Pepper Jelly
  Karen McCombie - Paperback - Scholastic
  Stella thought she was the most mega-shy girl in town. But move over Stella - there's a new Teen Queen of Shyness! Amber has all the self-confidence of a very timid slug. So can Stella, TJ and Rachel do a hair, make-up and attitude makeover on her in time for the fancy party she's dreading going to?
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  Boys, Brothers And Jelly-Belly Dancing
  Karen McCombie - Paperback - Scholastic
  While dealing with the trauma and deep, deep shame of being dragged to a belly dancing class by Rowan, Ally also has to deal with unexplained, jealous type feelings to do with Billy, who has asked for her help in finding a date.
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  Candy Girl
  Karen McCombie - Paperback - Barrington Stoke
  Dixie's landed a dream work experience placement at Candy magazine. But rather than interviewing celebs and mingling with models, Dixie spends all her time making tea! And then the problem page editor makes her read all the letters from readers. Worse still, Dixie finds a letter from her own sister. What will she do?
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  Daisy, Dad And The Huge, Small Surprise
  Karen McCombie - Paperback - Scholastic
  Ally knows love makes you do funny stuff, but it doesn't really explain Grandma's behaviour. Sure, she's got a lot on her mind with the wedding in just a few weeks, but Ally keeps overhearing whispered conversations on the phone and Grandma's being extremely secretive. What is going on?
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  Indie Kidd's (most Excellent) Guide To Best Friends
  Karen McCombie - Paperback - Walker
  Indie and her friends let us in on the stories of how they all came to be best friends, giving tips on how to handle friends that are bossy or shy, in your family or, even, boys. With a quiz and advice, this is a most excellent guide whether you are a newcomer to Indie Kidd or already a fan of her adventures.
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  Indie Kidd's (most Excellent) Guide To Fun For Free
  Karen McCombie - Paperback - Walker
  Stuck indoors? Run out of pocket money? Only the pets to play with? Find yourself in a fun-free zone? Banish boredom with Indie's most excellent guide. Faced with a boring holiday looming ahead of her, Indie comes up with a whole load of mad, brilliant and wacky ways to have fun. And she's written them all down!
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  My (most Excellent) Pet Project
  Karen McCombie - Paperback - Walker
  Animal advice, short stories and furry facts abound in this fun compendium of pets, starring the lovable Indie Kidd.

Bibliography

Ally's World

1. The Past, the Present and the Loud, Loud Girl - 2001
2. Dates, Double Dates and Big, Big Trouble - 2001
3. Butterflies, Bullies and Bad, Bad Habits - 2004
4. Friends, Freak-outs and Very Secret Secrets - 2002
5. Boys, Brothers and Jelly-Belly Dancing - 2004
6. Sisters, Super-creeps and Slushy, Gushy Love Songs - 2004
7. Parties, Predicaments and Undercover Pets - 2004
8. Tattoos, Tell-tales and Terrible, Terrible Twins - 2004
9. Mates, Mysteries and Pretty Weird Weirdness - 2002
10. Daisy, Dad and the Huge, Small Surprise - 2003
11. Rainbows, Rowan and True, True Romance(?) - 2004
12. Visitors, Vanishings and Va-Va-Va Voom - 2004
13. Crushes, Cliques and the Cool, School Trip - 2004
14. Hassles, Heart-pings!, and Sad, Happy Endings - 2004
15. Sunshine, Sunburn And Not-So-Sweet-Nothings - 2005
16. Angels, Arguments and a Furry, Merry Christmas - 2003

Stella etc

1. Frankie, Peaches and Me - 2004
2. Sweet-Talking TJ - 2004
3. Meet The Real World, Rachel - 2004
4. Truly, Madly Megan - 2005
5. Amber and the Hot Pepper Jelly - 2005
6. Twists, Turns and 100% Tilda - 2006
7. Forever and Ever and Evie - 2007

Indie Kidd

1. How to Be Good(ish) - 2005)
2. Oops, I Lost My Best(est) Friends - 2005)
3. Being Grown-up Is Cool (Not!) - 2005)
4. Are We Having Fun Yet? (Hmm?) - 2006)
5. Wow, I'm a Gazillionaire (I Wish!) - 2006)
6. My Big (Strange) Happy Family! - 2007)
7. Me and the School (Un)fair - 2008)
8. My (Most Excellent) Pet Project - 2008)
9. My (Most Excellent) Guide to Best Friends - 2009)
10. I Spy a (not So) White Lie - 2009)

Sadie Rocks!

1. Happiness, And All That Stuff - 2008
2. Deep Joy, Or Something Like It - 2008
3. It's All Good (In Your Dreams) - 2009
4. Smile! It's Meant To Be Fun

Other novels

• My Funny Valentine - 2002
• Winter Wonderland - 2002
• Love is the Drug - 2002
• My Sister, the Superbitch - 2002
• In Sarah's Shadow - 2003
• Marshmallow Magic And The Wild Rose Rouge - 2004
• An Urgent Message Of Wowness - 2006
• Bliss... - 2007
• The Seventeen Secrets Of The Karma Club - 2008
• The Raspberry Rules - 2010
• Candy Girl - 2010
• Six Words and a Wish - 2011