Engaging & Exciting

The Girl Who Wasn’t There by Jacqueline Wilson is a most delightful children’s novel for ages ten years and older. I am considerably older than the target market but I really enjoyed the story.

Jacqueline Wilson has once more written an engaging and exciting novel that entertains from the start.

We follow a family whose father has bought a hundred year old folly at auction, with the view to renovating it. It seems like a fairytale but its’ crumbling walls and floors soon turn it into a nightmare. The family has a summer of adventure as they live in a caravan on site. The tower may be falling down but the setting is idyllic.

The action is seen through the eyes of ten year old Luna, who is big sister to six year old Aurora. Like most siblings, there are ups and downs but there is a lot of love. “Aurora was my little sister and I had to stick up for her. No one picks on Aurora at school and gets away with it!

School can be an intimidating and scary place to be as children navigate the classroom and the playground. We witness the kindness of teachers who help those who are struggling to fit in.

As with all families, there are arguments. 2020 had seen the father lose his restaurant. Now he is trying to find his place in life again, and there are natural tensions that arise. “Maybe it was time I started believing in him [father].” Luna is perceptive enough to realise her father is struggling beneath his cheerful exterior.

Everyone within the family is battling something, but at the end of the day they are a family bound together by love.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Girl Who Wasn’t There and can recommend it whatever your age.

JULIA WILSON