Jacqueline Wilson

Probably one of the most realistic depictions of gay teenagers I have ever read. Of course, reading something from Jacqueline Wilson is always going to involve a nostalgia trip, but Lord this one took me back - way, way back - to being a gay teenager at fourteen desperately in love with one girl in my class and hoping and praying that it would all turn out the way I wanted it to. Almost 15 years later and I can't believe I was ever that naive. And then I read this book and I can absolutely believe I was. Of course, the writing is rudimentary because it is, after all, written for younger kids, but if you're between the ages of 12 and 16 and you want to read something about self-discovery that is realistic then this is absolutely the book for you. I read this book because I wanted to see how Jacqueline Wilson was holding up in the 2020s, and also because I was excited because it was her first book with a gay main character (Kiss doesn't count, as Sylvie isn't gay), but I mostly read it because as a school librarian in a secondary school in the UK, I feel I should be reading these kind of things to get an idea of what kids are reading nowadays and also what kind of books I should be getting for the library. For a secondary school library, this book is perfect.… (more)