ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – My Name is MacKenzie Bly by Lissa Evans

Posted on 25th August 2026 By Nicola

My Name is MacKenzie Bly by Lissa Evans will be published by Doubleday on 27th August 2026. My thanks to the author for sending me a copy for review.

I am fourteen years old and I’m called MacKenzie Bly. It’s a good name, isn’t it? Unfortunately, I just made it up, I’m actually called Philip Stephens which, if there was ever a competition for the world’s most boring name, would be a clear winner. ‘We didn’t want to call you something that would mean you’d get teased’ is what Mum B says.

But given that I’m the size of a vending machine, hate sport, live with my Mums, one of whom teaches biology at my school, and don’t live with my Dad who plays air guitar, has ginger plaits down to his waist and writes random notes on Rizlas instead of using a diary, they might as well have called me ‘Fattus Butticus’ for all the difference it would have made….

Oh, and my best friend Sy has just moved to New Zealand.

Life is terrible.

I hope you enjoy reading this.

Our protagonist is MacKenzie Bly. Except it’s not, it’s 14 year old Philip Stephens. He just liked the sound of the name and thought his own to be pretty run of the mill. In his own words, he’s built like a vending machine which means that he can sometimes be a bit clumsy. He lives with his two mums, mum A and mum B, and sees his feckless and unreliable father on occasion.

This book takes the form of a series of accounts of Philip’s life as told to the author, Lissa Evans. I’ve read Evans’ books before and love her dry humour but I’m not sure I would have naturally gravitated towards this book and that would have been a massive shame because I absolutely loved it. It was originally planned to be a young adult book but it’s turned into one that will appeal to everyone. There are inevitable comparisons to be made to Adrian Mole (whose diary I also loved) but the only real similarities are Philip’s age, his hapless behaviour and his chaotic family life.

Philip is a bit of a bumbling sort but so likeable and so (unintentionally) funny. I sniggered a lot. He’s the sort of person who finds himself in awkward situations, but who isn’t often the cause of them. He’s just a bit unfortunate in many ways, but also rather sweet. I raced through this book which is very easy to read with short, punchy chapters that made it hard to put the book down.

The upshot of all this is that I had a rip-roaring time reading about Philip’s life, his friends, his classmates and his family. I’d love to read another volume (please, Lissa Evans!).

Following a career in radio and TV comedy, Lissa Evans has gone on to write seven novels, including the bestselling Old Baggage, Their Finest Hour and a Half (filmed as Their Finest) and Small Bomb at Dimperley. Two of her books for children, Small Change for Stuart and Wed Wabbit, were shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. Her non-fiction book about producing Father Ted is called Picnic on Craggy Island.