The Lottie Project

Jacqueline Wilson explores family life, school pressures, friendship, and historical imagination through a contemporary child’s engagement with a class project about Victorian domestic service. The novel balances humor and emotional seriousness, giving middle-grade readers a recognizable protagonist whose feelings are complicated rather than neatly resolved. It encourages empathy across time and invites discussion about class, responsibility, and how children interpret adults’ choices. Wilson’s direct, accessible style supports reluctant readers. A mild limitation is that some emotional situations are presented quite starkly, so younger or sensitive readers may benefit from contextual support.