I’ve been reading a couple of children’s books and
still do now. Jacqueline Wilson has been among them during my high school days.
I was taking a look at a TV Tropes page of her books and I’ve come up with an
idea of sharing my top list for her books. It’s been ages since I’ve last read
her books (even if some of her books may or may not have aged well) but here
are the ones that remain my top favourite books of hers to this day (and I like
to give a mention the the illustrator Nick Sharrat for his colourful art). Bear
in mind that my memory is somewhat rusty as again, it’s been ages since I’ve
read her book and there are some that I don’t have any more. And as a heads up,
there will be some spoilers.
Top 10 Jacqueline Wilson books
10) The Mum Minder – Probably an underrated one but
its set as a school diary written by Sadie who writes about the misadventures
involving taking care of the babies while her Mom is ill. Its simplistic style
makes it easy to get into.
9) The Diamond Girls – The name of the book would
suggest a girl pop group but that’s far from the truth as it’s about four
sisters who have to learn to work together to help their Mom settle in a new
neighbour while pregnant with another member of the family on the way. It even has
a reference to Busted one time!
8) Best Friends – Featuring best friends Gemma and
Alice who have to deal with the burden of becoming split about. I like on how
it have many references to some of the older Jacqueline Wilson books including
the appearance of Biscuit from Cliffhanger.
7) Candyfloss – Focusing on Floss who choose to
stay with her father while going through several changes of her own. You will
be rooting for her as she endures it all. The ending even have other Jacqueline
Wilson characters as cameos which is probably the closest thing to a crossover
to her books (hint hint).
6) Cliffhanger – One of my earliest Jacqueline
Wilson books that still remains a favourite today and one of the few to have a
male protagonist including Tim who have to face the trails of summer camp.
5) The Cat Mummy – This book have almost single
handily made me got into the pet hobby and as someone who have lost some pets,
I can relate to
4) Sleepovers – It focus on five friends going to
five sleepovers for their birthday which varies the plot. It’s also great for
it to have a disabled character for representation.
3) The Worry Website – It’s among my top favourite
that motivated me to read more of her books. It’s about students who uses the
school’s worry website to type down their problems and how they were able to
deal with them with the help from their teacher Mr Speed.
2) Starting Tracy Beaker – Tracy Beaker is one of
her main series set as a midquel between The Story of Tracy Beaker and The
Dare Game where Tracy gets a star role in a Christmas Carol. It’s my best Tracy
Beaker series.
1) Little Darlings – It stars two children who are
related to a celebrity who happened to meet each other. It’s personally my best
Jacqueline Wilson book.
Honourable Mentions: The Illustrated Mom, Secrets,
The Lottle Project
Jacqueline Wilson has written many characters who
are often relatable as they go through real life issues. There are some that
you would sympathise too, others that you would dislike or some that could have
more potential and development by today’s standards. But regardless, here are
my top main characters:
Top 12 Main Jacqueline Wilson Character
12) Pearl (My Sister Jodie) – The younger sister to
the titular Jodie who have to go through several hardships at her new boarding
school and the tragic loss of Jodie. You definitely want to give her a hug as
she has gone through her grieving.
11) Varity (The Cat Mummy) – As someone who have
kept pets themselves, I find her hardship losing her beloved cat
Mabel relatable. She also struggles to keep everything a secret despite the
meaning of her name (meaning truth) but with help from the others, she was able
to accept the lost which is a good lesson for those losing a pet too.
10) Garnet (Double Act) – Garnet is the younger
twin like me. She is the shyer one but is always loyal to those who she loves
including her older twin sister Ruby. She also honest (as shown when she one
times mentions about Rose caring for them despite her resentment) and always
vows to stick together with Ruby. Also, who would have thought that the names
Ruby, Garnet and Rose would become names for characters in Steven Universe?
9) India (Secrets) - One of the two protagonists in
Secrets who is a huge fan of Annie Frank. She may have to put up with others
giving her a hard time including her alcoholic father, her mother who mocks her
for her weight and the other students who are jealous of her yet is proved to
be smart, willing to stand up for herself when pushed too far and cares about
those she is close to including her father and her new friend Treasure who helps
her to hide from Terry.
8) Treasure (Secrets) – The other protagonist from
Secrets who has a tough facade as she endures her step Father Terry yet have a compassionate
side to those she trusts. You will be rooting for her when she reveals the
truth about Terry and her desire to live with her Nan Rita. I liked the parts
when she and India meets each other and become close friends, having each other’s
backs.
7) Dolphin (The Illustrated Mom) – One of the
daughters of Marigold. She’s been given a hard time at school by other pupils
and teachers yet is not afraid to stand up for herself. Even so, she truly cares
about Marigold and always believes the best in her.
6) Dixie (The Diamond Girls) – The Diamond sisters
are an interesting bunch yet you may have divided opinions on them including
Jude who is the nicest to Dixie but can be sexist at times, Rochelle can be a
jerk to Dixie but have become closer to her and Martine’s opinions about her
own Mother would be up to debate. Dixie is probably the most likable out of The
Diamonds Sisters who was born prematurely and a fan of birds yet truly cares about
her family and tries to keep them together. She also made friends with Mary
with a dark secret and despite her skinny size and being the youngest of the sisters,
she is shown to have great courage as she saves Mary from her fall.
5) Daisy (Sleepovers) – The founder of the Alphabet
Girls. I find her character arc enjoyable to read including her frustration and
concerns about her disabled sister Lily yet truly loves her especially near the
end as well as her becoming best friends with Emily for which she have truly
earns.
4) Floss (Candyfloss) – You would definitely want
to be rooting for her as she goes through the struggles of her decision to
remain with her good natured Father while her other family moves to Australia,
helping her Father who’s in a massive debt and falling out with her so called
best friend Rhiannon yet is able to endure it all.
3) Tim (Cliff Hanger/Buried Alive!) – One of the
few male protagonists who have to endure summer camp and a holiday that
involves several mishaps but have learned to stand up for himself which leads
his team to victory in Cliff Hanger and remain loyal to his friends even with
their differences in Buried Alive. He is also shown to be worthy of being Super
Tim as he saved the life of his bully. All of this shows that he can be a
badass when he strives to be.
2) Destiny
(Little Darlings) – As one of the protagonist from Little Darlings, Destiny is
known to be fearless and talented, knowing the lyrics of her father yet is compassionate
and not let caught into fame as shown for her caring about her ill Mother. You
would also feel sorry for her as she was placed second to last for the penultimate
performance yet it all pays off for the evening final show.
1) Sunset (Little Darlings) – The other protagonist
from Little Darlings who you would also feel sorry for as she been treated harshly
by her parents (especially her Mother), her unhappy celebrity lifestyle and being
dragged down by her parent’s marriage problem. Yet despite it all, she truly
cares about her family as she tries to help her siblings to go through it all.
Thank goodness that she have found a friend in Destiny.
Honourable Mentions: Tracy Beaker, Gemma (Best
Friends), Marty (The Worst Thing About my Sister), Lily (Lily Alone), Elsa (The
Bed and Breakfast Star), Ellie (Girls
Series), Ruby (Double Act)
In addition, Jacqueline Wilson have introduced many
supporting characters that I happen to like a lot so here are a few supporting
characters that are my top picks (which would be described as TV Tropes term
Ensemble Darkhorse):
Top 15 Supporting Jacqueline Wilson Character
15) Davie (Little Darlings) - Starting with a minor character who only had a brief appearance. I guess it's something to do with me liking boy bands including Mcfly and Busted. In this case, Davie is from a fictional young boy band The Milky Star Boys who is protayed to be clumsy which makes him amusing to Sunset yet he is shown to be kind as he was legitimately concerned about Destiny's Mom when he spotted them at the film primer, offering to help them out, making him an Ensemble Darkhorse to me.
14) Callum (Best Friends) – One of Gemma’s older
Brother who is good looking and is generally nice to Gemma and Alice, just as
long as they don’t go through the way of his relationship. If Jacqueline Wilson
happens to write another book with a male protagonist, maybe Callum could be
one of them.
13) Jack Johnson (Kiss) – One of my best siblings
who is one of the many characters who is supportive of Carl’s sexuality (it
would be great to have more LGBTQ+ characters with that in mind).
12) Harley (My Sister Jodie) – Harley happens to be
tall for his age yet is a nice guy who is friends with Pearl and likes to
watches badgers. It’s good for him to be one of the few characters who stays in
touch with Pearl after the tragic death of Jodie.
11) Rhona (Cookie) – One of Cookie’s class mates
from her school and wanted to be best friends with her and who can blame her
with her being cool yet nice to her with one of the few students who accepted
her for who she is. I would have liked her to have more appearances during half
way of the book (even if she may have to find out about what happened to
Birthday, the rabbit that she brought for Cookie for her Birthday).
10) Joseph (The Longest Whale Song) – When Ella’s
Mom became ill during childbirth, Joseph is one of the few characters who is
the most supportive to Ella and one of the more likeable characters than most
other characters I find. The Guinea Pig that Ella has brought Butterscoth also
gets a mention as a lover of Guinea Pigs myself. It may not have been mentioned
as much but thank goodness it didn’t have the same fate as Birthday from
Cookie.
9) Barbara (Lola Rose) – She definitely earns a
spot on the list for how she helps with Jayni and Kenny with their Mother at
the hospital, her kindness towards the family and how she stood up to Jayni’s abusive father. Steven and Andy also have an honourable mention (well
mainly Andy as the nicest one out of the two) for hints of them being a gay
couple (which is something that was oblivious to me back then long before I
came out).
8) Jack Myers (Little Darlings) – A lot of friendly
male supporting characters tends to be on this list and Jack Myers gets a
mention for his kindness for Destiny during halfway of the book including
during the school concert. The ending implies that they maybe a couple too.
7) Rita (Secrets) – Treasures’ cool yet
compassionate Nan. She always fights for what she believes in and is willing to
risk herself to help her loved ones. All of this makes a better parental figure
for Treasure than her own parents.
6) Ms Smith (The Cat Mummy) - Jacqueline Wilson has
written a lot of supportive teachers including Keith ‘Rex’ Raxberry (Love
Lessons), Mr Abbott (Lily Alone – even though he was the one who called the
social services but it helps that he regretted it), Mr Hill (The Illustrated
Mom), Mr Harrison (The Illustrated Mom) and Mrs Horsefield (Candyfloss). Even stricter
ones like Mrs Harrison from the Girls series and Miss Marion Bean from Dustbin
Baby have their moments of support. Ms
Smith happens to be one of the best who is kind and gentle to her pupils with
Verity being her special favourite, helping her to get through her problems
even if Verity wasn’t willing to tell the whole truth about her situation. I
like her design which makes her resemble an Egyptian Princess. It would be
great if we have more teachers like her.
5) Emily (Sleepovers) – One of the Alphabet Girls
who is the nicest to Daisy who stands up to her ex-best friend Chloe and
accepts her disabled sister Lily. It’s no wonder that Daisy desires to become
Emily’s best friends and it’s rewarding to see how it pays off.
4) Oliver (The Illustrated Mom) – Almost every
student at Dolphin’s class gives her a hard time. Oliver is the exception who
is the nicest to Dolphin and has a few problems of his own. He was the one who
was there for Dolphin when she needed it and single handily helped Dolphin to
find her biological father.
3) Susan (Candyfloss) – A smart yet quiet girl who
proved to be a better friend for Floss, being there for her when Floss became
bullied by her so called best friend and remain supportive with Floss’
circumstances like good friends should.
2) Mr Speed (The Worry Website) –Mr Speed is my
other favourite teacher and the best bar none. He is a witty, wacky teacher
like Ms Frizzle from the Magic School Bus series yet is compassionate to his
students and does a lot to help out his students going through their dilemmas
no matter how complicated they are. He would certainly earned a spot for best
fictional teachers (along with Ms Smith).
1) Biscuit (Cliff Hanger/Buried Alive!/Best
Friends) - Biscuit is one of Jacqueline
Wilson’s favourite character and is certainly one of my best supporting
character. He is always thinking about food yet is a nice guy who is there for
his best friend Tim during his summer camp. He appears again in the sequel to
Cliff Hanger Buried Alive, expanding his friendship with Tim and focusing on
his own flaws. His appearance in Best Friends was a wonderful surprise and is
shown to be nice and supportive to Gemma even if she resented him until near
the end. No matter the circumstances, Biscuit is always compassionate to his
friends. Maybe it’s about time that he appears in another book as the main
character.
Honourable Mentions: Alice (Best Friends), Magda
& Nadine (Girls series), Star (The Illustrated Mom), Bruce (The Diamond
Girls), Sakura (My Sister Jodie), Jack (Best Friends), Peter (Tracy Beaker series),
Amy & Bella (Sleepovers), Jake (Cliff Hanger),
Melissa (The Worst Thing About my Sister), Mike (Cookie), Sam & Lily (Cookie)
However, not every character from her books are as
likable. There are some who are dislikable or even despicable whenever they are
bullies or abusive. Here are my worst Jacqueline Wilson characters:
Top 15 Worst Jacqueline Wilson Character
15) Richard (Double Act)
14) Justice Littlewoods (Tracy Beaker) – Justice is
an obnoxious bully who always winds up Tracy Beaker and often gets away with
it. I say that she deserves Tracy lashing out on her for provoking her, especially
in Starring Tracy Beaker when she bullies Peter and Tracy standing up to her
Whilst not the worst character, I would like to start off by mentioning someone (as I look back to the story) who I find unintentionally unsympathetic; Richard from Double Act. Whilst it’s sad that his wife have passed away and he may have the right to be angry with the twins Ruby and Garnet with their behavior at times yet there was not one part where he takes any responsibility himself. He should have acknowledge their feelings of moving away from their friends at school, their resentment of Rose (whilst I give credit to her to trying to be nice to the twins and does stand up for them at times but him paying more attention to her than the twins and her invading the twin's lives all of a sudden certainly doesn't help matters) and considered to have a heart to heart talk to them which could have helped them to settle since children may have a hard time coping with changes in their lives. During the part when he had an argument with his Gran, he may not be completely wrong about meeting Rose but his Gran does have a valid point on not being consulted about inviting Rose and not to rush into the relationship. His outcry at Gran makes him look like he’s throwing a hissy fit. Then there’s the part when he said to Garnet that they’re better off being separated when she had the scholarship and not Ruby which only adds more salt to the wound. He may not be the worst father but frankly, he could have been more responsible helping with the twins' circumstances which doesn't make him worth rooting for.
13) Chloe (Sleepovers) – Chloe is one of the
members of the Alphabet Club who happens to bully Daisy and always have
opportunities to belittle her, especially during her sleepover birthday which
shows her at her worst and was no better at Daisy’s own sleepover birthday
including pushing Daisy over, adding anchovies to her pizza and giving a scary
movie to Daisy as her birthday present. It was satisfying to see her being
humiliated near the end of the story.
12) Ingrid, Katie, Alisha (The Worst Thing about my
Sister) – While opinions on Marty and Melissa would be up to debate, it’s
those three who are the gruesome trio who bullies Marty for little or no
reason including calling Marty names. While Marty’s action involving
getting her revenge on them may seem questionable to some, the worst part is
that they virtually get away with their bullying with Marty getting punished
harshly and them never been punished. If anything, they deserved having eggs
thrown at them.
On the subject on The Worst Thing about my Sister, the
mother Jan gets a mention here. Whilst she’s not as bad as other parents and
maybe at times she does have some valid points as the only sane woman in the
family, I don’t find her very likeable
with her strictness, especially to Marty who she punishes harshly (without
acknowledging that the above gruesome trio are in the wrong) and her favourism
to Melissa. I feel that she makes little responsibility to Marty and
Melissa’s fights which would make her unintentionally unsympathetic at times
11) Riannon (Candyfloss) – Rhiannon is a petty so
called best friend to Floss who joins in Margot and Judy’s bullying to Floss
and never admits that she’s in the wrong. It doesn’t help that she spreads
exaggerated rumors including Floss’ mother walking out on her which is
something that a true friend wouldn’t do. It all makes it satisfying to see
Floss standing up to her and one time being humiliated.
10) Mrs Maddie (Girls series) – There have been a
fair amount of strict and cruel teachers throughout her books. Mrs Maddie
stands out for always being mad and is practically cruel to Ellie, belittling
her and not caring about her circumstances, especially during Girls in Tears
when she angrily orders Ellie to put down the note about Magda’s apology which
is like a kick the dog moment.
9) Karen (Best Friends) – Not the worst parent
comparing to the others on the list but certainly dislikable. She was the one who split Gemma and Alice
apart with her husband having a new job and being spoilt and selfish without
considering their feelings. While she still cares about her daughter Alice, I
don’t find her sympathetic and I pretty much agree with Gemma when she lashed
out on her about taking Alice away from her.
8) Kate Green (Lily Alone) – Like with Richard, Karen and to
an extent Jan (and others), Kate isn’t as bad as the other abusive parents
(brace yourself as there’s going to be more of them for this list) and does
care about her children. I do get that she is sympathetic
with her owing a lot of debt, falling into depression after Paul died and
losing her canteen job. However, I can’t help but to feel that the entire plot
was entirely her fault with her irresponsibility throughout. Her depending on her ex-husband Mikey to look
after the kids while she goes on holiday with Gordon was far from a smart move
when she should have consulted him first before leaving. And Mikey was an
abusive father which would not have worked out anyway. Then there was the fact
that she used a stolen credit card which Lily have tried to warn her at one
point for which she mocked her for which later comes back to bite her. All of
this makes Kate indirectly responsible for Lily being sent to a care home,
separated from her siblings, making her unintentionally unsympathetic for being
an irresponsible parent.
7) Mrs Luft (The Illustrated Mom) – Mrs Luft is an
obnoxious fiend who shares the same flat as Marigold and have a bad temper to
takes it out on Marigold’s family for trivial reasons. Even if her reasons are
somewhat justified at times including disturbance, it does not excuse her for
her foul temper and rude behavior which makes her no better. I say that she
was indirectly responsible for Marigold’s breakdown towards the end of the book
(the part when she forced Marigold to put down her phone when Star contacted
her and saying those hateful things to pour more salt in the wound) and never
really received any proper karma for it (asides when the ambulance woman have
asked her to look after Dolphin when they took Marigold to the hospital).
6) Terry/Tammy (Secrets) – Terry is an abusive
stepfather who whips Treasure at the start of the book just for discovering
Treasure’s Terry Torture Manual. If that wasn’t bad enough, he masks his
emotions to manipulate people including the press when he claims that he misses
Treasure and feels sorry for his violent ways. Neither of which are the case.
It’s no wonder that Rita has decided to take Treasure away from the house and
who can blame her?
Let’s not get Tammy off the hook who is an
accomplice to Terry, taking a blind eye that Terry have wiped Treasure and have
even told Treasure at one time that she didn’t wanted Treasure to be born. Are
we meant to be rooting for her, wanting her daughter back when it’s clear that
Terry won’t change his ways?
Whilst not as bad as those two, India’s Mom Moya
Upton also deserves a dishonerable mention for the way she belittles India
about her weight. She may have redeemed herself in the ending but she does
deserve India’s The Reason You Suck speech to her.
5) Mary’s Mom (The Diamond Girls) – You may have
divided opinions on the Diamonds and their Mother but none are as hateful as
the Mother of the young girl Mary that Dixie made friends with. Her actions
towards her daughter are shocking including cutting her nails too short,
slapping her just for making friends with Dixie, threatened to cut Mary’s
tongue for telling another friend that she hurt her and force feeding Mary to
eat the sandwich crusts in front of Dixie (which was a terrifying scene). This
makes her one of the darkest characters that Jacqueline Wilson has ever written
and not even her PSN gets her off the hook. You would definitely want to give
Mary a hug for all the psychological and physical abuse she has to endure from
her Mother.
4) Sharon (My Sister Jodie) – Sharon is one of the
worst Mothers who is always unfairly harsh and strict to Jodie. I especially
hated the part when she refuses to listen to Pearl and Jodie about the badger
incident and takes the blame on Jodie while explaining her back story which
expects you to be pity for her yet I say it makes her a hypocrite when Pearl said that Jodie was given a hard time by the others but Sharon herself said that she was bullied while again not listening to Pearl, making her less likable.
3) Jay (Lola Rose) – There’s no surprise that he
would end up in the list as one of the worst fathers with such despicable acts
including emotionally and physically abusing his ex-wife Nikki for trivial
reasons, telling Nikki that it was her fault that her mother have died from
cancer, calling Barbara names and threatening her for being with another man
just after she recovered from her breast cancer surgery. Not even his kids were
safe from his wrath including Jayni. I don’t understand why some partners are
so abusive to their own partners. No matter the reason, Jay is definitely a
hate sink and thank god that Barbara has given him what for.
2) Gerry (Cookie) – The other abusive father who
spends most of the story being verbally abusive to Cookie and Dilly, trying to
control them and hostile to others including near the end when he punches their
friend Mike who tries to reason to him when he finds them at Rabbit Cove. But
the worst part was when he deliberately released Cookie’s pet rabbit Birthday
which caused it to get eaten by a fox. As an animal lover, I was upset and
angry with this horrific act. This, along with all the crap he gives to Cookie
and Dilly placed him very high on the list.
1) Suzy Kilman (Little Darlings) – Suzy is one of
my most hated character who is unfairly abusive to her daughter Sunset,
belitting and bullying her throughout for trivial reasons. Her cruelty also
extends to Destiny and her Mother when they had a chance to meet her father
(even if they have trespassed their property). TV Tropes have suggested that
she is a Jerkass Woobie for her backstory involving her being poor and had to
fend for herself prior to being a model (as well as her husband Danny cheating
on her obviously – someone who is also dislikable) but I can’t get pass her
Jerkass attitude so I am not convinced that I am meant to be sympathetic to her
and just because someone have a hard life, it doesn’t always justify treating
others like crap. While she may care about her children to some extent (as
shown when she and Danny got separated), it doesn’t change the fact that she
never really apologise for her abuse, nor see herself in the wrong. This makes this cow my worst Jacqueline Wilson
(next to Jay and Gerry) and I’m glad that Sunset stood up to her, giving her
the reason you suck speech she deserved.
Dishonerable Mentions: Giles (Cliffhanger), Mack
(The Bed and Breakfast Star), Gran (Clean Break), Liz (Best Friends), Kim (Bad
Girls), Pearl (Dustbin Baby)
There have been some annoying younger siblings
(Kenny from Lola Rose, Eggs from the Girls series and Baxter Green from Lily Alone
comes to mind) but they’re generally tolerable and more redeeming than the above
characters (abusive parents and bullies alike) though I would want them to have
some character development and depth including the reason for their childish behavior and
realization that they have to grow up, rather than being genetic brats (although the TV Tropes page for Lola Rose have suggested that Kenny does have
some depths).
I would also like to mention someone who I don’t
outright dislike but I considered my least favourite protagonist; Ella from The
Longest Whale Song. Don’t get me wrong, I do feel sorry about her Mother being
put into a coma during childhood but I don’t like her hostile attitude to most
other characters including her stepfather Jack who’s not a bad guy, just strict
at best and does cares about her (at least they have got closer together).
Whilst it’s understandable that she’s going through a hard time, her attitude
to again other characters (justified or not) doesn’t make her any better,
making her character unenjoyable to read.
So I hope you enjoy reading my top lists for
Jacqueline Wilson’s books which have been part of my childhood and have helped
me to get into reading. I hope to read more of her newer books to rediscover her
works someday.
