Jacqueline Wilson - thoughts?

[whattimeisitrightnow]

Posting in AIBU for traffic and also because there's another thread currently running here that's sort of about her works.
I grew up reading JW obsessively, really loved her work. If I'm honest, I'd probably still enjoy reading some of her books as an adult! However, now that I'm older I'm easily able to identify problems with a lot of them: some of it was my own fault, as I read the ones for teens/mature readers when I was too little for them.

That being said (talked about this on the other thread) there's one book, Love Lessons, based on a student-teacher relationship where said relationship is presented in an almost positive light, in a very romantic way. The female student is pretty much blamed entirely for what happens and is kicked out of the school while the teacher keeps his job. The abuse of power isn't explored at all. Generally, I think JW books really seek to give a voice to children, especially those in extremely difficult situations who might feel particularly powerless, and that's commendable. LL seems to be an exception.

What do people think of JW books? Did you enjoy reading them? Do you think they're too 'dark' for children? Did you even find them helpful at times? (I remember the ones with abusive parents really resonating with me, even before I was old enough to articulate why.) And do you let your own kids read them?

Love Lessons was possibly badly done/thought out (although is it possible it is just extremely from the teenage girl's perspective, and he's actually grooming her but she thinks she's driving it?) - I haven't actually read it either. If you take Tracey Beaker at face value for example it's very different to reading through the lines as an adult.

I think her books are great. They give representation to kids who might have a less than harmonious family life and they are thought provoking for kids who haven't had those experiences. I think they probably made me think about life experiences I hadn't personally had.

I dont think theres anything wrong with a bit of trauma in a childrens book. I read books like goodnight mister Tom, the boy in the striped pajamas, pretty much every micheal morpurgo book, these are all much more traumatic and no one complains about them. Its just because JW books deal with unsavoury themes like divorce, foster care etc. But they generally arent depressing
Agree 100% re the unsavoury themes. It's almost like those sorts of plots are looked down upon - especially as Wilson's characters are almost always working class, from what I remember - but books dealing with war are commended. Maybe it's a patriotism thing.

@whattimeisitrightnow
Absolutely. It was a real happy ending that one.

Her books are quite harrowing in places -both of us have been in tears at times at hetty feather. On the whole I like JW but I do think they’re quite hard stories and raise a lot of issues that need discussion and understanding.

@wearywithteens 2 mums and 4 children left the theatre absolutely desolate? were you surveying people on the way out?

Theres loads of books for children full of trauma ffs. Much more than Hetty Feather

I think they probably made me think about life experiences I hadn't personally had.
Me too. There was stuff I could relate to, having grown up in a dysfunctional household myself, but other things that I couldn't imagine. The poverty aspect that was often prevalent was thankfully something I never experienced - I was financially a very fortunate child - yet I remember feeling so much empathy for the characters struggling to make ends meet and then carrying that empathy over into real life.
There are other ways to do that too, obviously, for those who think the books aren't appropriate. Many kids' books and shows tackle darker themes through metaphors and the like, especially some cartoons.

I loved them. I read the ones for teens before I was a teenager. I personally think they were so tame that it didn’t really matter at all, plus I learnt a lot more from my friends than I did from books like them.

I recall reading much worse books, such as Oscar Wilde’s the Happy Prince and kids versions of Macbeth and Canterbury Tales, I loved them. Ronald Dahl’s revolting rhymes...kids are much less freaked and more resilient than we give them credit for. They are more more open to difficult subjects, plus JWs books I think are actually quite fluffy and always have jolly endings. They deal with difficult life subjects and I think that’s important, but everything always works out. Just think, years ago, kids read Grimms fairy tales when Sleeping Beauty was raped and Pinocchio was hung!! (I am not suggesting they are suitable for children!)

I really liked them as a child and a teenager and like you would probably still happily read them now! They are very good for developing empathy and portraying issues that children from certain backgrounds might not be aware of, although sometimes it does seem glamorised. Love Lessons is problematic though, I’m amazed it got published. While the relationship is ‘consensual’ no relationship between a student and a teacher can actually be consensual due to the imbalance of power and the age of consent, and that was completely ignored from what I remember. It was banned from our school library though!

@bettsbattenburg how old is your daughter and which one was she reading? I’m assuming the upper end of primary if her teacher threw the book away instead of putting it back in the school library. Some of her books would be suitable for fairly young children, they’re not all aimed at teenagers!

Dd and I are currently reading a lot of JW books. Dd is 10. I've quietly removed love lessons from the pile though, as I remember from dd1 that it wasn't age appropriate. I didn't remember the storyline, though, just that it wasn't appropriate for a 10yo. We really enjoyed the butterfly club, although that's aimed at slightly younger children. Dd loves the Hetty Feather stories, we've read all of those ones now.

I love Jacqueline Wilson books. I just had a quick look at the end of Love Lessons because I couldn't quite remember the ending. Yes it is a bit of a dodgy ending. The teacher does 'get away' with it. Prue however is an unusual character. Home schooled with a domineering father she doesn't know what is 'normal'. She doesn't fully understand what they are doing is wrong. This is of course one of JWs YA books. It isn't for 10 year olds. It's for teens. It would be a good book for teens to discuss in a book group. Not all books have a good solid 'well that's that sorted then' ending. Many books end in an uncomfortable way that make the reader stop and think.
This book is one of them.

@Wearywithteens Hetty Feather?! I remember that one being much lighter than some of the others, although maybe that was the historical setting clouding my judgement by making it less 'realistic'.

Oh dear, I remember JW books. They are basically the equivalent of misery lit/ sensational real-life magazine stories, but directed at 9 year olds. Quite distasteful really. Why did every book seem to have someone with a serious mental illness? And why were there no stable marriages? Trash, but very enjoyable trash.

Also how comt every child seemed to have a social worker, only about 2% of children in the UK are on a child protection plan IIRC

I loved the books when I was growing up my favourites were the lottie project, the bed and breakfast star and the illustrated mum.

I still think the books are great- when my now nearly teenage daughter read them all we’d have long conversations about the subjects and anything she didn’t understand. I grew up in poverty with a single mum who had/has mental health issues so a lot of the subject matters weren’t a shock for me. My daughter has spent a year of her life in temporary accommodation while we were homeless due to DV. Those books were all she read at one point, maybe because she could identify so much with a lot of them in some way.

For balance, I never read love lessons and from what’s written here JW could have/should have taken a different stance. However, a girl (even a child)/woman so often get the blame for how men behave that it doesn’t sound like it’s far off from real life unfortunately.

Most traditional stories involve shit or dead parents. Hansel and Gretel - fuck off and die in the forest because we can't afford to feed you. Snow White - Dead mum. Cinderella - Dead Mum. Sleeping Beauty - Parents are twats. Rapunzel - Dad is a twat. Little Red Riding Hood - crap parents, send her off through the forest with just the advice to not talk to strangers. Beauty and the Beast - Dead Mum, etc, etc.

It's an easy premise to put the character in a position of danger/opportunity - admittedly, a lot of the time, parents would be dead because that's what happened before medicine/obstetrics improved, but it's been taken into a period of time where they aren't so likely to be dead as crap.

I love jw and hate the hate and censorship surrounding her work on here people claiming their kids are not allowed to read them. And i disagree about love lessons. Even as a teen i read it and saw how badly prue was treated because in reality that is how it is for a lot of young victims of sexual abuse they are blamed for it when its not their fault. It even makes out mr raxbury is a callus coward at the end when he willingly makes out it was prues fault to save himself.

I bought them for my DC but they found the characters annoying and said that they couldn't relate to them at all.

I remember it well, as they rarely came out with such clear thoughts about books - they either read them or didn't.

They did like Michael Morpurgo mentioned above though. He seemed to do a variety of books all aimed at many different levels of understanding and reading ablility. Also liked Terry Pratchett, Harry Potter, and animal ark books.

The point of her books are about how the characters overcome hardship and are still loveable despite all the bad things that happen to them. I cried reading my sister jodie as an adult

My DD brought Cookie home from school aged 6/7 and we quietly removed it as we didn't think it was age appropriate... She's 9 now and lbe happier for her to read it. She was rather 'sheltered' though... There were only a handful of divorced parents at her school for example.

I remember as a teen finding the story of one of the sixth formers and a teacher both having to leave the school after their relationship came to light as being rather romantic. All the girls in my year did. Then a few years later finding the fact another teacher being in a relationship with a 16yo at a different school rather creepy.

I really enjoyed JW books growing up, even though they had some harrowing themes - the image of the illustrated mum painting herself white has really stuck with me.

Like pp I came from quite a secure family unit and comfy upbringing but her books really opened my eyes to how other children in the world might grow up, and their ‘normal’ - it taught me not to assume everyone has a family like yours.

Oh dear, I remember JW books. They are basically the equivalent of misery lit/ sensational real-life magazine stories, but directed at 9 year olds. Quite distasteful really. Why did every book seem to have someone with a serious mental illness? And why were there no stable marriages? Trash, but very enjoyable trash.

This, 100%. It doesn’t feel representative it feels exploitative and sensationalist.

• I love Jacqueline Wilson books. I just had a quick look at the end of Love Lessons because I couldn't quite remember the ending. Yes it is a bit of a dodgy ending. The teacher does 'get away' with it. Prue however is an unusual character. Home schooled with a domineering father she doesn't know what is 'normal'. She doesn't fully understand what they are doing is wrong. This is of course one of JWs YA books. It isn't for 10 year olds. It's for teens. It would be a good book for teens to discuss in a book group. Not all books have a good solid 'well that's that sorted then' ending. Many books end in an uncomfortable way that make the reader stop and think. This book is one of them. *

In some ways I agree with you. It's depressingly realistic: Prue is vulnerable and then groomed, everything is blamed on her, she continues to idealise the relationship after it ends, etc. The only problem is, I really worry that some teenage readers, vulnerable or not, might miss that and only focus on the romantic aspects of it. I'm not sure what the solution is - discussion with teachers/parents would certainly help. I just wish that one character in the book would have at least hinted that what was going on was totally unacceptable, such as the mother or the headteacher. I don't mean to insult the intelligence of younger readers, but some of them may not pick up on the darker implications unless they're alluded to more directly. I think Love Lessons would have been great as an adult novel. As a young adult novel, not so much.

Well isn't Dickens basically 'misery lit' then?!

@Saladmakesmesad That's interesting, why do you feel they are exploitative?

DearLiza when was the last time you read a Jacqueline Wilson book. Several from the last few years are nothing like what you have described. Butterfly Club has a very close family. Rent a Bridesmaid - yes the Mum has left home - but it's a sweet story about different relationships. Katy and Four Children and It are clever versions of old classics. The historical novels - Opal Plumstead (suffragettes), Queenie (1950s), The Hetty Feather series and spin offs Victorian Era), Wave me Goodbye (WW2) and Dancing the Charleston (1920s) are an excellent way of teaching history.
I am guessing you probably haven't read one in 20 years !!