Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Lola is in the middle of two friends who barely tolerate each other. She tries to keep them happy, but many changes begin happening: dad goes off to the Navy for six months, she’s extra thirsty and tired, and her coach wants her to be captain of the netball team. Lola finds out she has diabetes and this affects many things. She realizes things don’t always have to be okay. She leads the team by example, her friends get along, and she lets everyone know that “hard changes have good results.”

Okay so I had a few issues with this book. The subplot was getting Tasha and Indi to be friends however throughout the book they were very mean and selfish. They knew Lola had diabetes yet did not support her in any way. They tried making Lola eat stuff she shouldn't and when she refused they called her weird. Now that is some toxic friendship. Lola nearly gives up captain because she worries about what her 'friends' would say. And when she does tell them, Indi storms off and Tasha sulks like the supporting friends they are. I was so frustrated at this point but I still persevered.
Lola is constantly stressed about them and explicitly states that she fears them. In one way the author tries to show how Lola stands up for herself and Indi and Tasha change however I did not enjoy reading about their selfishness throughout the book only to end up with an underwhelming character arch. Also Tasha and Indi hate eachother but are both best friends with Lola. I was very skeptical about that. Tasha and Indi are constantly sulking or storming off. Yikes, I really did not enjoy that.
Tasha is very sensitive. She constantly fishes for compliments and gets upset at the smallest things. Again at the end we didn't see her or Indi emerge as a better person which was majorly unsatisfactory.
At one point Lola stresses about what everyone would say if she couldn't play a match due to her diabetes and I just can't. Lola has diabetes and it's not her fault. If people don't understand that then I don't even know. There are many unlikable characters in this book and Lola's dad is one of them. When Lola comes off on the last match due to dizziness, he says why couldn't she just play and deal with it (not litteraly but something like that). There's a point where Lola is literally shaking because of her friends and that's saying something.
The plot is sweet and informing and the writing style is also decent. It's just the characterisation I have a problem with. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free copy.

I haven't read much Australian kid lit, so this was an interesting experience. Personally this book wasn't for me and I felt most of the characters were shallow and seemed flat, but I think a kid might not be bothered by this (particularly the rater simplistic motivations of the parents). It might not be immediately evident to US students that this set in another country, but could lead to some interesting discussions about the lives of children in other countries.