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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
As heartbreaking as it was the first time I read it as a teenager.
I really loved this particular book out of all the Jacqueline Wilson books I read as a young girl. I used to read this multiple times when I borrowed it from the library and I eventually ended up saving money to get it and own it myself.
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Good for young teens. Handles sensitive topic quite kindly. Makes you see through poverty of adopted/ abandoned child
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
There are a LOT of Jacqueline Wilson books on the BBC Top 200 list (thirteen?) & this, I feel, is one of her better ones. Over the years we’ve seen tragic news stories about young women abandoning their babies in school toilets or dumpsters; here Wilson imagines the life of one of those babies as a teen. What happens to these babies? What’s it like to always wonder why you’ve been abandoned? What’s it like to be in the foster care system? How do you come to accept that you will never have the so-called “ideal” family, and be able to value, even love, the family you end up with? I like to think young people will read this and come away with a bit more compassion for those who may be struggling with these issues.
This was, I think, one of the first Jacqueline Wilson books that I ever read and it says something that I still think about this book from time to time as a fully grown adult.
April is a child living with a foster mother, who has been in and out of care and foster families, and who is also searching for the woman who gave birth to her and abandoned her in a dustbin.
Quite a traumatic plot for a children’s book.
As the story follows April, we learn more and more about her life and we even get to meet some of the people who were there along the way and see how they all shaped the person she then went on to become.
I will say there are parts of this story that I had forgotten were so dark but it didn’t put me off the re read of the story.
April is a child living with a foster mother, who has been in and out of care and foster families, and who is also searching for the woman who gave birth to her and abandoned her in a dustbin.
Quite a traumatic plot for a children’s book.
As the story follows April, we learn more and more about her life and we even get to meet some of the people who were there along the way and see how they all shaped the person she then went on to become.
I will say there are parts of this story that I had forgotten were so dark but it didn’t put me off the re read of the story.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Suicide, Death of parent, Abandonment
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Alcohol
I thought I’d read this since it’s one of the only Jacqueline Wilson books I didn’t read at the age of 11-12. I loved the whole book, except the ending. It just felt half hearted and as though it wasn’t actually an ending, I expected more. Maybe I was expecting a little too much from a child’s book - but I really did enjoy it just like the old times.
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated