Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Jaqueleine Wilson is fantastic. There's never been any question about that in my mind. And I'd also like to note that I'm a staunch believer in children's books not being censored. However, even my liberal mind was a little surprised. Most of the books scenes are fine and what I would expect from this excellent author. A parents death, irritating siblings, worries about the opposite sex are what I would expect for girls aged thirteen (the ages of the three heroines) But a couple of places in the book did surprise me somewhat. When one of the girls, Nadine, meets Liam, all three thirteen yea olds go to a nightclub where they are offered drugs (E's and whizz, in Magda's words) and Nadine even takes some "to relax her" to enable her to sleep with Liam (she doesn't.) I fully realise that, sadly, this is a world many thirteen year olds live in, but by writing about it this implies that it is normal. I do think if Wilson's heroines had been, say, sixteen, I would have been far more happy with it. Had I read this book at thirteen, I do wonder if I would have belived clubbing, sex, drugs and parties to be the morn in my age group. Hopefully not. But possibly some thirteen year old somewhere, might. The main reason WIlson's books are applauded is that they are realistic. I would reccomend any parent giving this book to a child to chat with them first and assure them that what the girls in the story do is not by any means what their peers do.
These scenes aside then, this book is excellent. The girls are realistic and strangely likeable. All in all it is a good story but unlike many of Wilson's other books, that is all it is. I did not pick up on any undercurrents of concern here. Give it t your child by all means and read it yourself - just be prepared for "But in this book.." comments!
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