Knowing Me, Knowing You is a 2011 YA novel by Helen Bailey.
15-year-old Chantelle "Channy" Allen is continually embarrassed by her ABBA-impersonator parents. When she learns her dad isn't her biological father, she's determined to find the real one, but her curiosity leads her down a dangerous path.
Knowing Me, Knowing You contains examples of:
- Angst? What Angst?: In-Universe example. At first Channy seems unaffected by her kidnapping, even expressing boredom rather than fear while being confined to one room in the flat. She later refuses the offer of counselling from the police. However it becomes clear that the ordeal has affected her even more than she realises; in the days following she goes through a period of depression, then experiences anxious sweats and shakes and is unable to understand her own reasoning for even agreeing to go in the flat with John Smith, marvelling in retrospect at how blindly she acted. It takes a panic attack and an emotional outburst with Claire to help her properly come to terms with what happened.
- Adoption Angst: Channy initially has this, although it's mostly because she's dissatisfied with her life in general and wonders if things would be better for her if she had her birth father around. She still loves Trevor and considers him her dad.
- Always Identical Twins: Channy has a pair of identical twin cousins, who she struggles to tell apart.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Channy is constantly embarrassed by the fact that her parents are one half of an ABBA tribute act.
- Better as Friends: After frequently dating on and off, Channy and Crab decide they're better as friends.
- Black Sheep: Channy feels this way compared to the rest of the Allans. While all her relatives are outgoing, energetic and enthusiastic party-goers, she's an introverted and self-conscious bookworm that ends up stuck on the sidelines. Her wish to find a biological family comes from her desire to find a sense of belonging.
- Book Ends: The book begins with Channy as a bridesmaid at her aunt's wedding, and ends with her as a bridesmaid at Pete's wedding.
- Chekovs Gunman: Channy's auntie Julie is mentioned to have had three divorces by the time of the book, and a few chapters later Trevor explains to Channy that Sandy lived with her and her first husband Omar during her early separation from Trevor. Sandy much later reveals that Omar was the one who spread the John Smith story around the family out of spite against Julie, leading to the web of deceit hanging over the family fifteen years later.
- Comically Missing the Point: John begins ranting that he's saving Channy from her awful family, and is disgusted that her aunt is married to another woman. He says (referring to Sylvanian Families) that Theodora Dappledawn wouldn't run off with Eleanor Bramble. Even though it's clear he has been stalking Channy and her family on social media for some time, she misses this and instead says that's stupid, a hedgehog wouldn't marry a rabbit.
- Contrived Coincidence: Channy's biological father sees Sandy and Trevor's appeal on Sky News after Channy goes missing, where Sandy quotes a line from a Cher song. The one night they met was while Sandy was performing as Cher impersonator, which is what causes Pete to recognise her and realise he could be Channy's father.
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: Channy's attempts to find her father lead to her getting kidnapped - and could have turned out much worse.
- Daddy DNA Test: It's mentioned at the end of the book that a DNA test confirmed Pete is Channy's biological father.
- Dark Secret: Sandy eventually reveals that there was no man called John Smith; she simply made up the most ordinary-sounding name she could think of to cover for the fact that she got pregnant from a drunken one-night stand with a man whose name she never knew. Initially the only person who she told the John Smith the story was Trevor and her sister Julie. Unfortunately Julie's husband, during a bitter divorce, then spread the story around some of the extended family. Sandy's insistence in keeping Channy in the dark about her parentage was fuelled by the dread of having to reveal to Trevor that she'd been lying to him for fifteen years.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Channy finally gets together with Antoine, has a good relationship with Pete, and has grown closer to her parents. She still doesn't have a sister (Pete doesn't have any other children), but she and Claire now consider themselves sisters.
- Everyone Looks Sexier if French: Channy's love interest is a French student named Antoine. Channy finds his accent very attractive and expresses her irritation that the visiting teenage foreigners always seem somehow to look more exotic than the regular British students.
- Fat Bastard: John, who is a kidnapper and very obese - although by the end of the book, Channy feels sorry for him.
- Fake Relationship: Channy lies to Claire that she's dating Antione and pretends she's going to see him off to France the day she sneaks off to London to meet John Smith. Claire repeats the story to the police, which sends them completely down the wrong trail when Channy gets kidnapped, as they assume she ran away to France with him.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: John Smith referring to Crab by his real name in the cab on the way to his flat, which he only knows due to Internet Stalking Channy through her cousins.
- Foreshadowing: Stacie and Tracie's lack of caution when accepting friend requests from strangers in chapter one. Also Crab mentioning his rarely-used birth name of Gordon Snittersley.
- Gene Hunting: The book's plot centres on Channy's attempts to find her biological father.
- Happily Adopted: While Trevor hasn't technically adopted Channy (he was simply listed on her birth certificate as her father, thus granting him parental rights), she's effectively this trope.
- Happily Married: Channy's parents, even though Sandy had a child with a man other than Trevor in the past. This was the result of a brief "blip" a year into their marriage, followed by a trial separation, after which they reconciled. Ever since, they've been very happy together.
- History Repeats: Channy's mother Sandy makes up a story about being in relationship with a man, which then has huge repercussions after it gets spread around by various people. Years later Channy makes up a story about being in a relationship with Antione, which has huge repercussions after it gets spread around by various people.
- Idiot Ball: Channy knows how to spot an online paedophile, and that she should stop talking to John if he starts complimenting her appearance or asking whether she has a boyfriend. But then she thinks his lack of sexual interest in her means it's safe to meet him alone and go to his house - leading to her being kidnapped.
- In-Series Nickname: Channy (Chantelle), Crab (Gordon), Snorbs (Simon Norbett), Ros (Rosemary), Slow Jo (Josephine), Sandy (Sandra).
- Kidnapper's KFC: John lives off fast food and frequently orders deliveries for himself and Channy. He's actually caught because he'd started ordering meals for two instead of one.
- The Kindnapper: John sees kidnapping Channy as a kind thing to do, thinking that she'll be happier with him than she was with her parents - since he's been obsessively watching her social media, where she often shares typical teenage complaints.
- Last Het Romance: Sandy was this for Pete, although in their case it was more like Last Het Hookup.
- Last-Minute Hookup: Channy and Antoine officially get together on the very last page of the book.
- Like Mother, Like Daughter: See History Repeats.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: After seeing Sandy appeal for Channy's return on TV, Pete recognises her and realises that he might be Channy's biological father. While he's in the area trying to find out where the family lives, Taryn thinks he's a creep following her, and he ends up getting arrested.
- One-Night-Stand Pregnancy: Channy was born as a result of Sandy having a drunken one night stand with Pete whilst temporarily separated from Trevor.
- Pair the Spares: Crab and Claire seemingly get together at the end of the book.
- Parents as People: Sandy and Trevor are loving, supportive parents who care deeply for their daughter. However their job mean that they have to frequently leave Channy to her own devices which as an only child leaves her lonely and bored. Sandy's shame over Channy's conception means that she refuses to discuss it for fear of her discovering the truth, and she and Trevor later deciding to keep it from her leads to Channy in turn deciding to keep them out of her search to find her real father.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: John is homophobic and makes several offensive comments about Channy and her cousins dressing like "sluts."
- Replacement Goldfish: John kidnaps Channy as a replacement for his daughter Hannah, of whom he lost custody.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Claire in a pretty bridesmaid's dress and nicely done makeup at Pete's wedding.
- Siblings Wanted: Channy has always wanted a sister, and is delighted when John tells her that he has a daughter named Hannah. Channy's real biological father is Pete, who doesn't have children; but by the end of the book she's decided Claire is as good as a sister to her.
- Single-Minded Twins: Channy's cousins, who have interchangeable personalities, speak in unison and finish each other's sentences.
- Skewed Priorities:
- Channy says that if Sandy won't tell her whether Trevor's her biological father or not, she'll steal his toothbrush and order a DNA test. Sandy orders her not to do this - because it's expensive to buy replacement heads for an electric toothbrush.
- After Channy is rescued from John's house by the police, her first reaction is to worry about whether she smells bad because she hasn't been able to have a shower for a week.
- After she is informed that John Smith has pleaded guilty to everything, the police officer asks her if there's anything she'd like to ask. Channy's first priority is to ask what's happened on Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and Eastenders while she's been away.
- Theme Twin Naming: Channy has twin cousins named Tracie and Stacie.
- Time Skip: The final chapter takes place a year after Channy was kidnapped.
- Toilet Seat Divorce: Channy's parents never divorced, but had a temporary separation over a series of seemingly trivial disagreements. Ultimately subverted since they ended up staying together, even though Sandy had a one night stand with another man and got pregnant.
- Trauma Button: After the kidnapping, despite assuming she's fine, Channy begins experiencing sweats and shakes brought on by handling the stuffed Herbage Dappledawn toy John gave her. They stop after a heart-to-heart with Claire and she donates him to a child-minder's toy box.
- Unwitting Pawn: John Smith gleans plenty of information about Channy by becoming Facebook friends with her twin cousins.
- Useless Accessory: Channy recounts a time when her friend Taryn took up an edgy new look and started carrying a silver kettle instead of a bag. Since she couldn't fit anything into the kettle, she insisted on putting her stuff in Channy's bag instead.
