#ChildhoodRealities

Best Friends
Description

LITERARY SUPERSTAR JACQUELINE WILSON TELLS A UNIVERSAL STORY

about what it means to be Best Friends Forever. Gemma and Alice have been best friends since they were born on the same day in the same hospital—it doesn’t matter that Gemma loves soccer while Alice prefers drawing, or that Gemma is always getting into trouble while Alice is a model student and daughter. But when Alice has to move to Scotland with her family, their friendship is put to the test. Is Best Friends Forever stronger than five hundred miles? Readers will relate to the heroic efforts the girls make to maintain their friendship and the small disasters of ‘tween life that they encounter along the way. Tender, funny, and always honest, BEST FRIENDS is the book to win American readers into the legions of fans Jacqueline Wilson has world-wide.

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt AgeGroup: 9-12 Genre: Fiction
The Bed and Breakfast Star
Description

'Hey, when is a door not a door? When it's ajar!'

Elsa loves to tell jokes. She KNOWS she's going to be a big star one day - doing what she does best, making people laugh. But, after her family lose their lovely house and move into a bed and breakfast hotel, it seems like no one laughs anymore...

Despite their circumstances, Elsa is still determined to be a star!
Even if it's just at their run-down bed and breakfast.

Written by the beloved, award-winning bestseller, Jacqueline Wilson, The Bed and Breakfast Star is a funny, lively story that sensitively explores family life.

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt AgeGroup: 9-12 Genre: Fiction
The Lottie Project
Description

Hi! I'm Charlie (DON'T call me Charlotte - ever!). History is boring, right? Wrong! The Victorians weren't all deadly dull and drippy. Lottie certainly isn't. She's eleven - like me - but she's left school and has a job as a nursery maid. Her life is really hard, just work work work, but I bet she'd know what to do about my mum's awful boyfriend and his wimpy little son. I bet she wouldn't mess it all up like I do . . .

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt AgeGroup: 9-12 Genre: Fiction
The Illustrated Mum
Description

Covered from head to toe with one-of-a-kind tattoos, Marigold is the brightest, most beautiful mother in the world. At least, that’s what Dolphin thinks—she just wishes Marigold wouldn’t stay out quite so late or have mood spells every now and again. Dolphin’s older sister, Star, loves Marigold too, but she’s tired of looking after her. So when Star’s dad shows up out of the blue and offers to let the girls stay with him, Star jumps at the opportunity. But Dolphin can’t bear to leave Marigold alone. Now it’s just the two of them, and Dolphin is about to be in over her head. . . .

Author: Jacqueline Wilson AgeGroup: 9-12 Genre: Fiction
The Suitcase Kid
Description

Andrea West’s parents are divorced, and her tiny stuffed rabbit, Radish, seems her only comfort in the world. She must leave the home she loves with the mulberry tree in the front yard and deal with parents who still fight, stepparents, step-siblings, two different bedrooms (neither of which is really hers), loneliness, and an acute longing for the past. Her grades sink, her friends drift away, and she's not quite sure how to fix any of it. Eventually, though, a new equilibrium begins to settle on her life. Honest and true-to-life, Andy’s story shows that dealing with divorce is never easy.

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt AgeGroup: 9-12 Genre: Fiction
My Sister Jodie
Description

There's no one quite like my big sister Jodie . . .

Quiet, cautious Pearl has always adored her bold, brash, bad big sister Jodie.

When their parents get new jobs at a grand, fusty old boarding school, Melchester College, the girls have to move there - and when they arrive, things start to change.

Jodie has always been the leader - but now it's Pearl who's making new friends. Jodie just seems to be getting into more and more trouble - arguing with Mum, scaring the little children, flirting with the gardener. She really doesn't fit in with the posh teenagers at the school.

Pearl begins to wonder if she needs Jodie as much as she used to. But when Firework Night comes around and a tragic event occurs, Pearl realises quite how much Jodie means to her . . .

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt AgeGroup: 9-12 Genre: Fiction
Dustbin Baby
Description

April knows she was abandoned in a rubbish bin as a newborn baby, fourteen years ago. Now she's happily settled with her foster mother, Marion - but there's a part of April that's desperate to know where she really came from, and who she really is. If only she could remember her real mother - or even find her . . .

An engrossing, engaging and highly moving novel from the acclaimed bestseller Jacqueline Wilson.

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt AgeGroup: 9-12 Genre: Fiction
Lola Rose
Description

When life with Jayni's violent-tempered father becomes too frightening to cope with, Jayni, her mum and her little brother Kenny are forced to escape in the middle of the night. Slipping out of the house unseen, travelling up to London by train and checking into a hotel - it's almost like playing an elaborate game. They even make up false identities to protect their secret, and Jayni becomes the glamorous-sounding Lola Rose. But when money runs out and reality bites, what will they do next?

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt AgeGroup: 9-12 Genre: Fiction
Clean Break
Description

Em adores her funny, glamorous dad - who cares if he's not her real father? He's wonderful to her, and to her little brother Maxie and sister Vita. True to form at Christmas, Dad gives them fantastic presents, including a real emerald ring for his little Princess Em.

Unfortunately he's got another surprise in store - he's leaving them. Will Dad's well-meaning but chaotic attempts to keep seeing Em and the other children help the family come to terms with this new crisis? Or would they be better off with a clean break - just like Em's arm?

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt AgeGroup: 9-12 Genre: Fiction
Bad Girls
Description

Mandy is lonely. She's been bullied at school for as long as she can remember.

But then she meets Tanya. Fun, daring and glamorous Tanya wants Mandy as HER friend! She can't believe her luck.

There's only one issue though. Mandy's mum isn't happy. She thinks that Tanya is a BAD GIRL, and a bad influence on her daughter. But even if Tanya gets her into a TEENY bit of trouble, she can always get Mandy out of it - right?

From bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson, Bad Girls is a heartwarming story about confidence, friendship and becoming your own person. The perfect read to start difficult conversations with younger readers about bullying and how we treat others.

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt AgeGroup: 9-12 Genre: Fiction