THE SUITCASE KID

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt Rating: 9/10 Age: 9+ Genre: Fiction, Family Pages: 155 Published in: 1992 Main Characters: Andy, Mum, Dad, The 2 families and the new people at Mulberry Cottage.

Synopsis: Andrea (Andy) is a young schoolgirl who loved playing with her toy friend Radish. One day, her parents split up and they had no idea whatsoever to do with their little girl. Her dad said that she would be happy living with him, however, her mum said she would be even happier living with her! Andy had no idea what to do. She badly wanted to live with her mum but she wanted her dad desperately too! Her parents knew that they could not live together any longer, so they needed a plan to make sure that their daughter could be safe and happy. Whilst Andy’s mum lived with a different family, her dad was also living with someone else. Their plan was that Andy would live in her mum’s house for one week, and her dad’s the next week. When Andy was living with mum and her new husband, she didn’t feel comfortable at all! Bill, the new husband, was so fierce and giant that Andy called him a baboon. The baboon had three children: Paula, Graham and Katie. Paula was ok, as she was always in her room. Same with Graham. But Katie was the most dangerous from all of them. She was always rude and horrid to Andy, and called her ‘Andy Pandy’ after a little kid’s TV show... Andy’s dad had also re-married to a lady named Carrie. She had two five-year-olds named Zen and Crystal. They were not as bad as the baboon’s children, but they were still not great to spend a week with. Zen would always fight, and Crystal would always annoy. Andy felt depressed wherever she went. Plus, Carrie was going to have a new baby, which meant that Dad would have two children: Andy and the new baby. Andy knew that it would be very hard to switch between both parents. She wished that they could all go back to their beautiful old home, Mulberry Cottage. One day, she finds a secret garden with mulberries growing in it, and she has a great feeling that this was her old house! She begins to go there every day after school. As she feels her life unravelling, she spends longer and longer in the garden. One day, startled by the owners of the garden, she accidentally drops Radish, her best rabbit toy, down a tree and can't get her out. She was forced to flee back home and leave without Radish, as it was getting dark and everyone would wonder where she had been. Currently on a ‘mum's house week’, Andy runs away in the middle of the night to get Radish after being tormented by Katie. Her parents are very worried but soon find her. Andy insists that she must go and look for Radish, as she was her favourite toy, and they meet the new owners of Mulberry Cottage, who soon befriend Andy, giving kind gifts to her. Will Andy be able to convince her parents to live there again? Will they want to live there anymore after all those years? Have a flick through this inspiring tale to find out more!

Why I like this book: This is a very realistic, moving tale by Jacqueline Wilson. Yet it is a very funny story, and it captures readers into wanting to learn a little more about Andy’s life. The plot of this story seems to be washed on as Andy continues her life like a young child with nowhere else to go…