February 2018 Book of the Month | In a nutshell: an evacuee story as imagined by the one and only Jacqueline Wilson
Queen of contemporary fiction, Jacqueline Wilson is now setting her stories in the past, but they’re not one bit less lively, immediate or relevant to young people for that. For her 106th book she’s chosen to write a story of evacuees. Shirley is a bit of a misfit, a daydreamer, which irritates her mum, happiest with imaginary friends. Awkward and shy, she’s one of the last evacuees from her school to be adopted and is finally forced on a wealthy elderly lady and her housekeeper together with two boys similarly rejected. The arrival of the three youngsters shakes up the household, and what follows is vintage Wilson, full of incident and adroitly described relationships, and with an emotional and dramatic urgency that will keep readers turning the pages compulsively until the eventual happy ending. Nick Sharratt’s illustrations are as funny and heart-rending as the text. ~Andrea Reece
September, 1939. As the Second World War begins, ten-year-old Shirley is sent away on a train with her schoolmates. She doesn't know where she's going, or what's going to happen to her when she gets there. All she has been told is that she's going on `a little holiday'. Shirley is billeted in the country, with two boys from East End London, Kevin and Archie - and their experiences living in the strange, half-empty Red House, with the mysterious and reclusive Mrs Waverley, will change their lives for ever. Award-winning, bestselling and beloved author Jacqueline Wilson turns to this period of history for the first time, in this beautiful, moving story of friendship and bravery against the backdrop of the worst conflict the world has ever known.
A heart-warming story packed with Second World War detail Daily Express
Wilson has an incredible ability to inhabit her child characters so precisely and Wave Me Goodbye will be like Nina Bawden's Carrie's War for a new generation of children learning about our country's past Belfast Telegraph
Wilson has a gift for striking truths . . . a worthy addition to [her] ever-growing body of work -- Rebecca ButlerBooks for Keeps
Praise for Hetty Feather
Hetty Feather is the most compelling tale Wilson has told -- Amanda CraigThe Times
Simply the best. Truly brilliant Sun Jacqueline Wilson has written another amazing book. If you love Tracy Beaker then you'll certainly enjoy this too CBBC News
This was the first Wilson novel I'd read, so I was unsure what to expect. What I found was wonderful: a spell-binding and meaningful story about a girl's search for her mother -- Laura Dobbie Waterstones.com
Utterly original ... it's the perfect gift for girls of eight and older WHSmith.co.uk
Author
About Jacqueline Wilson
Jacqueline Wilson wrote her first novel when she was nine years old, and she has been writing ever since. She is now one of Britain’s bestselling and most beloved children’s authors. She has written over 100 books and is the creator of characters such as Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather. More than forty million copies of her books have been sold. As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children’s Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame. Jacqueline is also a great reader, and has amassed over 20,000 books, along with her famous collection of silver rings.
Jacqueline Wilson was our Guest Editor in February 2012. Click here to download an interview with Jacqueline.
