Promotional Information

Shortlisted for the 2000 Children's Book Award, category 3, the longer novel.

About the Author

JACQUELINE WILSON is an extremely well-known and hugely popular author. THE ILLUSTRATED MUM was chosen as British Children's Book of the Year in 1999 and was winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Award 2000. Jacqueline has won the prestigious Smarties Prize and the Children's Book Award for DOUBLE ACT, which was also highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. Jacqueline was awarded an OBE in 2002. * 'A brilliant young writer of wit and subtlety' THE TIMES 'Hugely popular with seven to ten year olds- she should be prescribed for all cases of reading reluctance' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'Has a rare gift for writing lightly and amusingly about emtional issues' BOOKSELLER

Reviews

"A marvelous, poignant tale. . . . Jacqueline's best yet."--"Daily Telegraph" (UK)"Disturbingly perceptive and provocative."--"The Guardian" (UK)"A powerfully portrayed, sometimes shocking but ultimately uplifting story, this is a book not to be missed."--"The Bookseller" (UK)Winner of the Children's Book of the Year Award in England"From the Hardcover edition."

"A marvelous, poignant tale. . . . Jacqueline's best yet."--"Daily Telegraph" (UK)"Disturbingly perceptive and provocative."--"The Guardian" (UK)"A powerfully portrayed, sometimes shocking but ultimately uplifting story, this is a book not to be missed."--"The Bookseller" (UK)Winner of the Children's Book of the Year Award in England"From the Hardcover edition."

Gr 5-8-A searing portrait of a woman's mental illness and its effects on her children is told by her youngest daughter, 10-year-old Dolphin. High school student Star is a practical, angry teen. Their mother, Marigold, is covered in tattoos and compulsively gets new ones whenever she gets upset, which happens more and more frequently. The family is constantly on the brink of being homeless and the girls essentially have to take care of themselves and their mother. Marigold is obsessed with Star's father, whom she hasn't seen in years and who doesn't even know that he has a daughter. She finds Micky at a concert and is convinced that they will now reunite. Star goes to stay with him because she can't handle Marigold any longer, leaving Dolphin with a mother who is less and less stable. After a complete breakdown, she is put in a psychiatric ward and Dol is put in foster care, at least temporarily. Star comes back and stays there as well. Dolphin is a sympathetic character and the relationship between the sisters is realistically portrayed, as is Marigold's mental illness. This isn't a fun read and the girls' future is only moderately hopeful, but it is an involving one on a subject not often portrayed in children's literature.-B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Library, Sag Harbor, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.