The Suitcase Kid |
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Jacqueline Wilson
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Pages: 160 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0440867738
Pub: Corgi Yearling Books
Pub date: 2006-10-05
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 52508
Editorial Review:
Lesley Dunlop reads The Suitcase Kid in this unabridged three-cassette pack.
Although there are many children's books about divorce, few move beyond bland therapeutic preaching into the realm of well-told stories. This one does. A hard look at joint-custody life, The Suitcase Kid follows Andrea West and her tiny stuffed rabbit, Radish, through the painful adjustment of being a kid with divorced parents. She must leave the home she loves with the mulberry tree in the front yard, and deal with parents who still fight, step parents, step siblings, two different bedrooms (neither of which is really hers), loneliness, and an acute longing for the past. Her grades sink. Her friends drift away. And she's not quite sure how to fix any of it.
Wisely, Jacqueline Wilson doesn't offer instant solutions; rather, she chronicles Andrea's journey to the beginning of equilibrium in her new life. Things will never be the way they were, but, as the book suggests, they'll get better over time. And because it's well written and honest, The Suitcase Kid will appeal to any child who enjoys realistic fiction, not just those who "need" to read a book about divorce. (The publisher recommends the The Suitcase Kid for ages 8-12, but it could well appeal to children who are a couple of years younger or older.)
Running time is three hours five minutes. --Susan Harrison
Reader Reviews:
Suitcase kid - superb (1/1 people found this helpful)
Brilliant, the book is about Andy and the upheavals in her family due to her parents splitting up. The book is well written and is easy to read. It deals with a very serious matter in a gentle and constructive manner. Even though the story is a sad one it does end on a happy note - a very enjoyable read.
Beautiful... (1/2 people found this helpful)
I read this book over and over when I was younger. It's a fantastic story about Andy, a young girl who is trying to cope with her parents' divorce, and her irritating new stepfamilies. It's brilliantly written and the emotions and thoughts of Andy are so realistic. Anyone who has felt out of place in their own home will understand immediately the feelings Andy has.
As well as being realistic and helpful, this book is also really funny and very easy to read. It's not at all preachy. Not just for children coping with divorce, this is a great book in its own right.
It will definitely appeal to anyone who has had trouble dealing with the things life throws at them, and who has ever felt that the only world which won't disappoint them is the one they create in their imagination. Heartwarming, enjoyable and at times tearjerking, this book is a refuge from all the people who don't understand you.
highly recommended (3/3 people found this helpful)
I chose to review this book as part of my children's literature project and found myself unable to put it down! The structure is somewhat unusual (though clever) as each chapter takes the reader through the alphabet ('A is for...Andrea'...etc). This may be quite intriguing for young readers, encouraging them to finish the book and discover what each letter stands for in Andrea's life. When approaching the content, some readers may feel the book paints a negative picture of step families, though i must say I don't agree. It simply outlines how difficult it can be to adjust and I am certain that young readers will find the book helpful. While many will be able to relate to the character 'Andrea' (the 'suitcase kid', whose parents have divorced), the story may also help children unfamilliar with divorce to understand what friends may be going through.
Highly recommended!
Tug of War - ABCs of Divorce (2/2 people found this helpful)
Andrea (Andy) at 10 is living out of a suitcase. She alternates her weeks between her divorced parents. Her father has remarried Carrie, a post-Woodstock flower child who has 5-year-old twins Zen and Crystal from a previous marriage. She is pregnant with her third child, a girl. Andrea tries to make sense out of this by going through the ABCs of divorce, with each chapter going down the alphabet.
Andrea's mother has also remarried. Andrea dislikes her widower stepfather and calls him the Baboon. He has bratty Katie, 10 who is thoroughly spoiled; Grant, 12 and Paula, 14 who are pleasant and reasonable. I just hated the way Andrea's mother defended Katie regardless. Katie treated Andrea badly with impunity and that bothered me. Even though one could sympathize with her fear of dying in her sleep, because as Grant explained, Katie was told when their mother died that death "was like going to sleep." Still, that doesn't excuse her execrable treatment of Andrea; her nasty ways and her malicious sneakiness. People who glorify Other People's Children to their own and let themselves be conned and beguiled by Other People's Children make me tired. Even Andrea's dad called Katie on her bratty behavior. Sneaky Katie lies; destroys Andrea's things and ridicules her for being inordinately attached to her stuffed rabbit, Radish.
I disliked the way Andrea's parents used her as a pawn against each other. When the girl became ill and couldn't leave one home for another, once again her natural parents try to use her against each other. Another thing that bothered me was the way each parent spoke against the other's new spouse. I also disliked the Baboon's parents because they excluded Andrea and made a big point of buying presents for their natural grandchildren.
Andrea's school work suffers; she and her parents see a counselor who talks down to Andrea and is generally irksome. I didn't like the cloying, annoying way she spoke to Andrea. In time, Andrea accepts the fact that she is the link in two extended families; Katie will continue being allowed to get away with murder, but at least she has the twins, Grant, Paula and some kind neighbors who have moved into her former house on her side. The house she pines for is called Mulberry Cottage. That in turn makes me think of the inane song, "here we go 'round the mulberry bush." Plenty of thorny characters in this story.
Moving But Ture Tale (0/7 people found this helpful)
I thought this book was really good but a times they dragged it a bit.Normaly I would say her books are for ten up but this I think is for eight up. I'm not going to tell the story line cause it might spoile it for someone but let's just say this girl is not happy with her new life.
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Books -> Subjects -> Children’s Books -> Ages 9-11 -> Authors -> Wilson, Jacqueline
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