Jacqueline Wilson Annual 2023

Product Information

Not much really happened in the book, and the writing was rather bland. Even the mean girl Chloe, who was an absolutely awful child in the first book, didn't really do much here. It's almost as if JW was worried about offending anyone if she made her mean character too mean. Which, come on, if you've read any of JW's other work, well it’s very colourful. It’s interesting. But this book is quite boring apart from the disabled kids and it’s rather sad. And the disabled kids are only done well because it's so refreshing to see disabled characters in media! Jacqueline has been on countless shortlists and has won numerous awards, including The Young Telegraph/Fully Booked Award in 1995 for The Bed and Breakfast Star, the Smarties Prize, the Sheffield Children's Book Award and the Children's Book Award for Double Act. The Illustrated Mum was on the shortlist for the 1999 Whitbread Children's Book Award and has won the 1999 Children's Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and the Guardian Children's Fiction Award.

Over 7 million copies of her books have now been sold in the UK alone. In a recent poll to find the Nation's Favourite Children's Book run by the BBC programme, Bookworm, Double Act was voted 10th and was the only contemporary title in the top ten. Jacqueline herself was voted 4th in the Treasure Islands Favourite Children's Author poll. Honestly the first one was a better book, but Lily was better written in this one. I might just be nostalgic for my own childhood though. But anyway, I have to say I didn't realise just how short a read this would be and was therefore a little disappointed by this, having thought I'd be in for a good summers read, only to finish it within 2 days. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable enough read, I liked how Lily's sleepover that rivalled Chloe's in that it was all about quality over quantity, with just Daisy and Lily and their respective best friends Emily and Natalie, like I thought that was a really nice concept. It was interesting as well showing how impressionable young people can really be, with Amy and Bella having been easily influenced into attending Chloe's birthday party due to having the chance to swim and dance, with both these things being their respective favourite hobbies! On the other hand though, it would have been nice to see more of Amy, Bella, Daisy and Emily in their friendship group together. If you're a fan of Jacqueline Wilson, I'm sure you won't be disappointed with this book, it was a fun little read during some annual leave from work. Baddiel and the Bishop: In The God Desire, comedian and author David Baddiel argues that our intense desire for God to exist proves that he doesn’t. He joins Emma Iveson, Bishop of Kensington, whose new book is Failure: What Jesus said about Sin, Mistakes and Messing Stuff Up. They are chaired by Fr Kevin Morris, Vicar of St Michael & All Angels.With Jo James, our programme director, I also try to pair authors and interviewers creatively, to stimulate lively sessions. Among our ‘perfect pairings’ this year are these: Daisy has just moved to a new school and making new friends is hard but when she joins Chloe, Emily Amy and Bella she thinks she is set. But Chloe always has to be the best, and soon the friends are split. Emily is now Daisy's best friend but when Chloe announces that she is going to throw THE BEST SLEEPOVER IN THE WORLD Daisy is worried her new friends will be forced by Chloe to choose between going to the sleepover and being friends with Daisy. Jacqueline Wilson inspired my love of reading as a child and it is her I have to thank for my lifelong love for it. Sleepovers is one of the first Jacqueline Wilson books that I remember reading as a child - and rereading over and over again! So despite the fact that I am now 27 years old, I requested the ARC for this follow up on NetGalley and was delighted to be approved! 🤩 I think children reading Sleepovers today, should absolutely read The Best Sleepover In The World too. It will teach them, if they’re disabled, that they have a place in the world, and if they’re not, to be accepting of disability and differences. A sequel to Sleepovers, first published in 2001(!!) TBSITW follows on from the first book. The first chapter is a brief recap of the first book, which I was glad for, as its been a while! Daisy's former friend Chloe is throwing the world's best sleepover, and Daisy's sister, Lily, isn't going to let that happen,and they decide to throw their own sleepover on the same day, with their best friends and family.

Where this book really shines is with the writing of Lily. Lily is an actual real character now, where as in the original book she was just like a prop or plot device. The first book really did Lily wrong with the way she was written, and I'm glad JW righted that wrong here. Lily is shown to be her own person, with her own thoughts and feelings, just like every other disabled person. (I am disabled myself. I am autistic. I thought there was something wrong with me when I first read the first book as a child because I'm disabled like Lily, just in a different way.) Lily is smart and capable enough to communicate with her sister Daisy, and they have some lovely interactions in the book. I loved Lily's character. She's a lot of fun. The book has an even more half-bothered ending than usual from JW (and that’s saying something!) because it just ends, mid-conversation, just like that. I might just be autistic here, but I'm not even sure Amy and Bella are still friends with Emily and Daisy, and if anyone is friends with Chloe now as well? I'm not sure who's friends with who! I absolutely loved it! I loved how Lily was a much more developed character this time around; last time, she was talked about a lot but we never really got to know her very well. But this time she was more developed and I absolutely loved how she communicated with those around her using Makatron. I had never heard of Makatron before this book so it was so good to learn about it!! Lily, Daisy's older sister, decides that she is also going to throw a brilliant sleepover on the same night as Chloe's. How can they possibly compete? Tween friendship dramas, inclusive characters and best friends make this the perfect book for 8-12 year old readers. Lily is disabled and represented in a realistic and respectful manner. Her interactions with her friends and family using the sign / symbol language of Makaton ( called Key Word Sign in Australia and used by people all over the world who have speech delay or communication difficulties) and joy at being understood, included and able to make her wants known is palpable. The only issue I have - I found a few small inaccuracies. The main one is how much more modern this book is than the other - there’s tiktok and mobile phones and social media etc. I get how many years later it is but the difference is huge.

Returns and Refunds

The book was published in 1991. I can’t say it was an overnight success but it did better than my others and soon a wonderful producer at the BBC, Sue Nott, told me she was desperate to make it into a TV series. She had trouble though: some people believed Tracy wasn’t an aspirational character and wouldn’t be popular, but Sue persisted. A decade after the first book, the show started. I wrote several more books about Tracy, eventually moving on to her becoming a mum herself. It would be wonderful if we had Tracy having to go into a home for the elderly, too, bringing her story full circle. But I see Tracy having a wonderful future no matter what, even if it’s only in my head. Through Tracy, I’ve done all sorts of work with the fostering network. Some kids I met said Tracy raised their status at school. Of course, because the books and shows are aimed at children, you can’t include the whole reality. Being a child in care is no picnic.

I loved the focus on children with disabilities, and the highlighting of the importance of Makaton. I am a firm believer that Makaton should be taught to all children from a young age. I also LOVED the fact that Uncle Gary was a Drag Queen! Lots of diversity was explored and celebrated in this book, and that’s exactly what children need to be exposed to within their reading for pleasure. Children need to know that everybody is different and that that’s more than okay. Uncle Gary is amazing, and i loved how his drag queen persona was brought into the book as well, that was so good to see! I think this book is great for the target audience. For an adult who spent her childhood religiously reading Jacqueline Wilson, not so much.

Family Organisation

Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award.

I know some have found the transition to modern life a little jarring, as the original book was set in the early 2000s and the sequel includes references to TikTok and drag queens, but to me it didn't read as weird or out of place, simply a different aspect of life at the primary school not shown in the first book. I think the addition of a drag queen was interesting, as I don't think all parents will necessarily enjoy the talk about nightclubs and might find the switching pronouns complicated. I'm not a parent, so I really don't know where I stand on this. I think maybe a little more explanation could've been nice, as I know as a child I would've been very confused by Uncle Gary's appearance as a woman and the use of she/her to refer to him, on and off! Extremely well-connected, their idea of starting slowly was to invite Lady Antonia Fraser, Anthony Horowitz, Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Frayn to take part. All duly spoke at St Michael & All Angels, with other writers such as the Windrush poet James Berry, and we were on our way.

I'd say kids should definitely read it. As an adult, only read it if you really want to see Lily written better than in the first one! A bit of a boring book apart from that though. If you have really fond memories of the original, maybe give this one a miss unless your curiosity is killing you! My only negative, is the first book was written when mobiles weren't big, except in size, and the internet wasn't as easily accessible, especially on a mobile device. References made to tiktok and dance trends make it more relevant. It wasn't too overplayed, but in my mind, it was hard to accept that suddenly social media is in this universe. It’s not like I’ve grown out of her books though or anything because I still read her older books and enjoy them. It’s just this story felt a bit unnecessary. I loved the continuation of disability representation though, and I found the drag queen reference interesting- not something I’ve come across in a children’s book before! I thought Lily’s disability was handled in a much more educational way in this newer book too, with explanations to the specialist school she goes to and the use of Makaton. Jacqueline Wilson was born in Bath in 1945, but spent most of her childhood in Kingston-on-Thames. She always wanted to be a writer and wrote her first "novel" when she was nine, filling countless Woolworths' exercise books as she grew up. Since having her daughter, Emma she has been writing full time.