Telling Tales | A Jacqueline Wilson Collection

So, yesterday my family were incredibly kind to me and treated me to a boxset of Jacqueline Wilson novels from The Works. It was completely out of the blue and I feel so lucky to be able to get my hands on them before the new stock comes in. Jacqueline Wilson is someone I admire quite a lot, especially from a writer’s perspective, having attended a talk with her a few years ago and witnessing how much she loves all of her characters first hand. However, I never used to read her books as a child, being a devoted horror reader, so I’m incredibly excited to enjoy them now as an adult. Anyways, here’s what titles I managed to get my hands on. If you have any personal favourites that aren’t mentioned here by Wilson, let me know in the comments!

Double Act | Jacqueline Wilson

Goodreads Rating: 3.74
Genre: Children’s, Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Summary: Ten-year-old Ruby and Garnet are identical twins who do everything together. Especially since their mother died three years earlier. They dress alike, wear their hair the same, and sit together in every class. In fact, everything about them is the same–except their personalities. Ruby is funny and outgoing, Garnet is sensitive and shy. Together they’re the perfect double act–and that’s just the way they like it.
Soon the twins’ life is turned upside down. Their dad has been spending a lot of time with his new “friend” Rose. Ruby and Garnet can’t stand Rose. To make matters worse, Dad and Rose buy a bookstore out in the country and the whole family moves. Ruby hates their new school, but Garnet thinks it isn’t all that bad. When Garnet befriends some of their new classmates, Ruby feels betrayed and stops speaking to Garnet. Garnet misses her sister terribly, but has to admit it’s nice doing things on her own for a change. Somehow, the girls will have to find a way to maintain their special twin relationship without spending every minute of the day together. 

---

The Story of Tracy Beaker | Jacqueline Wilson

Goodreads Rating: 3.74
Genre: Children’s, Fiction, Middle Grade, Contemporary, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Summary: Tracy is ten years old. She lives in a Children’s Home but would like a real home one day, with a real family. Meet Tracy, follow her story and share her hopes for the future in this beautifully observed, touching and often very funny tale, all told in Tracy’s own words.

---

Candyfloss | Jacqueline Wilson

Goodreads Rating: 3.85
Genre: Children’s, Fiction, Middle Grade, Contemporary, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Summary: Floss’s parents are divorced, and she divides up her week, spending five days with her mum, her new stepdad and her baby half-brother. The other two days Floss spends with her dad, helping him to run his greasy spoon cafe. But their simple arrangement is thrown into disarray when Floss’s mum decides to move to Australia.
Making the difficult decision to stay at home, Floss moves in permanently with her dad and they muddle along happily together, surviving on chip butties and enjoying visits to the local funfair. But disaster strikes – Dad’s money troubles catch up with him and they have to move out of the cafe. They’re homeless – but can their new fairground friends help out?

---

Rent a Bridesmaid | Jacqueline Wilson

Goodreads Rating: 4.15
Genre: Children’s, Middle Grade, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult
Summary: Tilly can’t believe it when her best friend Matty is asked to be a bridesmaid.
In Tilly’s favourite daydream, she’s wearing the most beautiful bridesmaid dress and walking down the aisle behind a bride.
The one wedding she’d really love to attend is her own mum and dad’s – but it seems like that’s never going to happen. So Tilly decides to make her own dream come true, and puts a notice in the local shop, advertising her services as a bridesmaid. And to her amazement, she gets a reply . . .

---

Cookie | Jacqueline Wilson

Goodreads Rating: 3.91
Genre: Children’s, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary
Summary: Frequently berated for breaking his hyper-fussy house rules, as well as for her lack of looks, confidence and friends, Beauty lives in uneasy fear whenever Dad’s home. Her pretty, sweet mum is equally afraid of him.
Eventually, after an unbearable birthday party, amidst fears that Dad’s temper is out of control, Mum and Beauty run away. They find themselves in an idyllic seaside resort where their new-found freedom and a moment of culinary inspiration give them a hobby, an income and even a new nickname for Beauty whose dreams all come true — and she deserves it!

---

Little Darlings | Jacqueline Wilson

Goodreads Rating: 3.98
Genre: Young Adult, Children’s, Middle Grade, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Summary: Sunset lives a life of luxury with her beautiful ex-model mum, her world-famous rock star dad and her two little celebrity siblings. But life on the red carpet is no compensation for parents who constantly argue, intensive scrutiny from the media, and and having no real friends.
Destiny, on the other hand, is an only child living on a rundown estate with a sickly but devoted mum who constantly tells her that she’s really the daughter of a famous rock star . . .
When the two girls meet in unlikely circumstances, they are surprised to find in each other something they’ve been missing all their lives . . .

---

Best Friends | Jacqueline Wilson

Goodreads Rating: 3.68
Genre: Children’s, Middle Grade, Contemporary, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Summary: Gemma and Alice were born on the same day and have been devoted best friends ever since. Despite Gemma’s larger-than-life personality and Alice’s quieter, calmer character, the two are inseparable – until Alice has to move house, all the way to Scotland.
Gemma is utterly distraught, particularly at the thought that Alice might find a new best friend. Is there anything Gem’s brothers, or perhaps her grandad, can do to help?

---

The Longest Whale Song | Jacqueline Wilson

Goodreads Rating: 3.92
Genre: Children’s, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Summary: Ella’s mum is in a deep coma, having just had a new baby. That means Ella has to live with Jack, her hopeless stepfather, and cope with her tiny newborn brother, as well as worrying about Mum. The only thing that’s going right is her school project. It’s all about whales and how they sing out to each other to attract a mate – sometimes for hours. Maybe a whale song could reach Mum, wherever she is, and bring her back to Ella and baby Samson. Surely it’s worth a try?

---

The Butterfly Club | Jacqueline Wilson

Goodreads Rating: 4.15
Genre: Children’s, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary
Summary: Tina is a triplet, but she’s always been the odd one out. Her sisters Phil and Maddie are bigger and stronger and better at just about everything. Luckily, they look after teeny-tiny Tina wherever they go – but when the girls start in scary, super-strict Miss Lovejoy’s class, they’re split up, and Tina has to fend for herself for the first time.
Tina is horrified when she’s paired up with angry bully Selma, who nobody wants to be friends with. But when Miss Lovejoy asks them to help her create a butterfly garden in the school playground, Tina discovers she doesn’t always need her sisters – and that there’s a lot more to Selma than first meets the eye.

---

The Worst Thing About My Sister | Jacqueline Wilson

Goodreads Rating: 3.96
Genre: Children’s, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Summary: Being a sister isn’t always easy . . . but what’s the very worst thing about your sister?
Marty and her sister Melissa couldn’t be more different. Marty loves her Converse trainers, playing football, hiding in her secret den and helping her dad with his DIY. But Melissa loves Justin Bieber and all things pink, girly and pretty.
The sisters can manage to live together, despite their occasional scraps but then Mum tells them they have to share a room. For Marty, having to share her bunk beds and lose her private sanctuary turns out to be the very worst thing about having a sister. But the girls soon discover that being too close for comfort can have unexpected consequences, and when an accident happens, the sisters realise they are closer than they thought.

---