UK Writer and Illustrator
Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt Opal Plumstead
Doubleday 2014 $34.99pb 515pp
ISBN 978 0 8575 3110 0
Themes: Factory work/ Love stories/ Prisons UK 1900s/
Suffragettes/ World War I
It is 1913 and Opal’s father, in a bid to provide happier times for his family is caught
stealing from his employer and is sent to prison for a year leaving the family
destitute. Opal is forced to leave school and is given work in a sweet factory
where she is made fun of especially for her love of art and books. She meets
the well-born son of the owner of the factory and, of course, they fall in
love! Sounds trite and predictable?
It is far from that and I think, this, Jacqueline Wilson’s 100th
book, is one of her very best – and if you can read the last few pages without
your eyes at least filling, if not overflowing with tears, you are made of
stronger stuff than me. She does warn us with don’t turn the page: believe in happy endings but naturally we do.
In a generous 520 pages, is a story full of details of life
in England at that time – the young men wanting to enlist / the frustrations
for girls who had a good brain and wanted to use it/ the attitudes of
neighbours to any family who had a member ‘inside’/ the simple pleasures of a
‘day at the seaside’…
As with all Jacqueline Wilson’s books the story is enhanced
by the line drawings by Nick Sharratt which in every case whet our appetites
for what is to follow.
Year 7 up/ Age 11 up
Note: Some adult themes
It has been a weekend of World War I as not only did I read
this book ALMOST at a sitting I have also been to the Friends of the Kapiti
Coast District Libraries seminar -
Some Foreign Field – writing about WWI –
then and now. This began on
Friday night with Harry Ricketts talking about and reading the poetry of World
War I poets. I have heard Harry speak on this subject before and enjoyed it so
much each time. Saturday morning was given over to a panel discussion –Writing about the war – fiction and fact. The panellists included Philippa Werry
(Best Mates and ANZAC Day: the New Zealand story) and who was in Gallipoli this
year working as a volunteer with the hordes of visitors who were there to mark
the event held annually around 25th
April.
More carefully chosen and very appropriate poetry read by
John? Secker, standing in for Peter Fry, was enjoyed.
A good weekend!
 |
| Here is Philippa talking to John? Secker after the session. |
The day before
their 10th birthday, Cooper’s twin sister Molly, who has always
bugged him, tells him she is actually an alien and is going to protect him as
he has special powers and is going to save the universe. Wot?
Empathy and understanding, not so many vampires, werewolves
and zombies as in past stories and poetry and although there are some elements of
fascinating fantasy, many of the entries in this collection tend to deal with the here
and now and its problems (and sometimes - delights).
Take note of the writers’ names – you will be likely to come across them again
in major literary awards in the future.
Go to: www.schoolforyoungwriters.org/ which will give you background to the
school, details of the annual competition, sources for buying the book if it is
not available in your local bookshop.
Redraft contains the work of
teenagers aged 13-19 at the time of entering and all young writers from 7 to 19
are able to apply for tuition and be given publishing opportunities whether
they live in Christchurch, where the school is based, anywhere else in New
Zealand or off-shore. Write On, the
magazine in which work by young writers aged 7 to 12 is published, comes out 4
times a year. Ask about it! 
When Wonder first
came out in 2012 it received ‘rave’ reviews (and rightly so) but it always
seemed to me that something was missing. We had the points of view of what was
happening to Auggie from his contemporaries at school, friends, teachers and
most of all from Auggie himself but there was one POV missing. It was that of
Julian, the initiator of most of the bullying, of the taunts and real cruelty.
Now, with a chapter to himself, we are given insights that will move many to
tears and takes us back to an incident in World War II. You haven’t read Wonder? It is the story of an eleven-year-old boy who was born with
extreme facial deformities. As Auggie who tells his story with candour and with heart-breaking humour says – by the way. I won’t
describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking it’s probably worse. Up
until now Auggie has been home schooled (and he is an extremely bright young
boy) but now his far seeing parents have decided it is time he went to school and
this is the story of his first year there. Please read it
if you have not already done so and preferably the 2014 edition. 
Malini has been used to a comfortable life-style, her own
bedroom and the prospects of a good and on-going education. Then as the Civil
War in Sri Lanka moves toward a terrible and bloody ending, soldiers appear in
the town and everything changes.
Malini finds herself as the guardian of her much younger sister, alone
in a forest and searching for a way to find her grandfather’s house – her parents
and old comfortable life vanished. This is just one of a number of really
useful titles in the series about children living in contemporary conflict
zones. Google Through My Eyes for a complete list
of the titles and a background to them. 
Symphony, the child of very difficult parents who are interested in healthy foods, saving the
planet and recycling amongst many other things in the same vein, is about to
have a birthday. Her mum has agreed to a birthday party but to Symphony’s
horror the menu will include baked beans and broccoli dip. Then, on the day of
the party, there is a not unpleasant surprise…This is just the sort of story
small girls (and maybe some small boys) who have recently become independent
readers will really enjoy with its large font and sympathetic and cheerful images. 