The story includes the theme of disability & friendship. Anna has a new brother to cope with. He was born with hydrocephalus and she has to handle what her friends would say about her if the truth got out about her brothers handicap.
The story starts in Anna's house when she is only 12. Her mum is about to give birth and Anna wants to help. She is very mature for her age so she generally tries to help out as much as she can and this night was no different. She tries to comfort her mum by saying 'Now just relax, Mum,' 'Everything's under control.' Anna starts to realise that things are not quite right with her mum's baby. For instance the doctors took a lot of unusual equipment upstairs to her mum's room that Anna had not seen before. The baby turned out to be a boy which they named 'Benedict Peacock'. You see, Ben was special. He was born with hydrocephalus, which enlarged the size of his head and made it very hard for him to learn and understand things that a normal baby would learn easily.
Anna keeps the secret of Ben's true identity from her friends for as long as she can, scared they might make fun of her or him. Eventually her secret was released but to Anna's surprise, everyone was really sympathetic and kind. Her friends even came over to her house to see him. Anna spent a lot of her time with Ben, trying to teach him things and giving him attention.
Anna gets a Saturday job at her local newsagent, run by an old friendly woman called Mrs. Chapman who is very kind to Anna and Ben. However, when everything seems to be going smoothly, Ben's happy but difficult