Elf Trouble by Holly Berry (aka Clair Wright)
Jane was starting to wish she had never given in to the Elf on the Shelf. Emily had started her campaign in September. “You want an elf, don’t you Thomas?” she asked her little brother. “What does it do?” “It watches you, and it tells Santa if you’ve been good,” said Emily. Thomas looked doubtful. “And it’s funny! It does lots of really fun things!” said Emily. “Everyone else had one last year.” She looked reproachfully at Jane. It was true. Jane’s Facebook feed had been full of cute, clever photos of little red elves getting up to “mischief” in the homes of other school mums. It all looked like a lot of effort. By the end of November, Jane had been worn down. If the elf could get the kids to do their chores, then it was worth a try. On the first day of December, she played it safe with the elf sitting in a plant pot, watching over the dinner table. “I don’t like ...