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Queenie

Queenie

RRP: £7.99
Price: £3.995
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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. Elsie is taken to a specialist hospital in the countryside with other children with joint problems, some as a result of TB as well. Our main character, Elsie Kettle lives with her Nan as her Mum is constantly away working on the stage. Elsie and her Nan are extremely close, and they plan to travel to London for the coronation together. Even though the book was made out to be about the coronation/Queenie the cat, it did feel at some points that they were side-lined for more repetitive plots. I’m not too sure how I feel about the Queen turning up at the hospital either. 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.

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. This book is set in 1953 and it tells the story of Elsie Kettle, who lives with her dear nan in a council flat. She has no dad and her promiscuous mum is nearly always working faraway, but Elsie doesn't mind because she loves her nan much more. One day her nan falls ill with tuberculosis and is taken away to hospital, and Elsie has to grow used to her mum being around again. But then Elsie develops TB too, and before long she is in hospital herself, strapped up with a leg splint. Will she ever see her nan again... and what will be of their long-anticipated trip to see the Queen's Coronation together? She has had quite a few jobs, including one at Butlins, as a showgirl, and as a secretary for Mr Perkins.I struggled to connect to Elsie as a character. For one thing, I don’t think we are told how old she is. This was an issue for me, because at times she acted very young, and at some points acted as if she was ten/eleven years old. 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.

Her Mum was, in my opinion unredeemable for running off to Canada with her boss/boyfriend and leaving Elsie to go to foster care (after saying earlier in the book she wouldn’t want that to happen again, as it’s mentioned this was the case when Elsie was very little). Nan and Elsie both fall ill with tuberculosis, and Elsie finds herself whisked away to the children's ward of the hospital. Confined to bed for months on end, Elsie finds it very hard to adapt to the hospital's strict regime. But she invents astonishing ways of entertaining the other children on the ward, and for the first time finds herself surrounded by true friends - including Queenie, the hospital's majestic white cat. Then tragedy strikes. Nan and Elsie both fall ill with tuberculosis, and Elsie finds herself whisked away to the children’s ward of the hospital. Confined to bed for months on end, Elsie finds it very hard to adapt to the hospital’s strict regime. But she invents astonishing ways of entertaining the other children on the ward, and for the first time finds herself surrounded by true friends – including Queenie, the hospital’s majestic white cat. She is lonely there and struggles to make friends, but there is someone she truly cares about… Queenie, the ward’s cat!

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I am so glad there was an afterword in the book of what happened later in Elsie’s life, of how she got to live with her Nan again. We are transported to England in the 1950’s, only a few short months before Queen Elizabeth’s II coronation. Flood, Alison (3 March 2020). "Women's prize for fiction lines up 'heavy hitters' on 2020 longlist". The Guardian. A brilliant and moving story from bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson, set in the children's ward of a 1950s hospital. Amazing, touching book! One of the things I liked most about 'Queenie' when I was younger is the detailed description, particularly the stories Elsie tells to the other children in hospital, based on Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree. And, just as it did then, the book swept me in and I could scarcely put it down.

Recently, I had a itching need to buy and read Jacqueline Wilson books—something I hadn’t done in years and years—as she was my favourite author when I was younger, with her stories meaning so much to me. It was disappointing that Elsie didn’t make any true friends there, I feel that would have added some much needed development.

However, these plans are dashed when her Nan falls ill with TB and ends up in a sanatorium. When Elsie and her Mum are tested, it is discovered that Elise has TB of the knee, and she needs treatment as well. 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.



  • Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
  • EAN: 764486781913
  • Sold by: Fruugo

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