Love Frankie

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Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments I'm trying to understand why it felt like a 3 star read; one reason might be the language used by the young characters, which felt inconsistent to me. The words and sayings that the 13 year olds used didn't always suit their age or the time in which it is set (now). Jacqueline Wilson has a very specific dialogue style that cropped up at times then went away. I found it more jarring in this book set in the current day than the newer historical fiction books or even the contemporary novels written in the 90s. A powerful and important love story, this book explores coming of age and coming out. I hope it will give girls everywhere the courage and freedom to follow their hearts - Good Housekeeping Jacqueline Wilson wrote her first novel when she was nine years old, and she has been writing ever since. She is now one of Britain's bestselling and most beloved children's authors. She has written over 100 books and is the creator of characters such as Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather. More than forty million copies of her books have been sold.

Love Frankie by Jacqueline Wilson, Nick Sharratt | Waterstones Love Frankie by Jacqueline Wilson, Nick Sharratt | Waterstones

I immediately was hooked; Frankie is such a likeable character and I found that I couldn’t wait to keep reading. I found that the story was a fantastic way to explore all the complex emotions that come with being a teenager, and even as an adult I could really relate to the different characters in the book. There were so many different themes that were touched upon sensitively, there were bright moments and there were tough moments. The main theme of sexuality was handled very well and I particularly liked how the characters were so different in their approach to it – it made it feel very real and showed how people’s reactions can be so different, whether they are the person with those feelings or whether they’re on the outside. Jacqueline Wilson puts 'heart and soul' into first gay heroine". CBBC Newsround. 6 April 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020 . Retrieved 20 April 2020. Love Frankie is a weird book for me to review, because it's essentially Jacqueline Wilson writing a novel that foregrounds a relationship between two teenage girls, and I think it would have meant a great deal to me when I was the age of its protagonists. While LGBT+ narratives have proliferated in young adult fiction (a welcome change from when I was a teenager and the only LGBT+ character I encountered was Andy in Sweet Valley Senior Year!), I still think it's important that someone of Wilson's stature is writing this kind of narrative. And she handles it well, sustaining her light touch while dealing with serious issues such as homophobic taunts and the persistent narrative that same-sex attraction in adolescence is 'just a phase'. While I found the attitude of the central character to her sexuality a little unrealistically optimistic, Wilson has a tendency to write naive, unworldly protagonists, and so this is in keeping with her usual style, even if, for me, it plays troublingly into the myth that LGBT+ teenagers no longer face any major issues (for evidence on the persistence of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia today, see https://www.britishlgbtawards.com/lgb...) And Wilson's instinctive understanding of the emotional intensity of teenage female friendships, and how, here, that bleeds confusingly into romantic attraction, is spot on. In 2020, award-winning dame Jacqueline Wilson's book 'Love Frankie' was published and released, and many readers fell in love with it. I am one of those readers, and hopefully, I can pass that love on to you.If I read this book when I was a young teen, I think I’d be rooting for Sally and Frankie as a couple. As an adult (much like Frankie’s mum/older sister) I felt very wary of Sally and thought she was two-dimensional and narcissistic. The supporting characters, however, were fantastic - I loved Sammy and Coral and Ivneet and thought they were so endearing and well-developed. I adored this book and think that JW may now be my new not-so-guilty pleasure. I may have to reread some of my old favourites at some point once I have read the books which I currently own that are on my TBR list.

Love Frankie - Wikipedia Love Frankie - Wikipedia

A subplot is Frankie’s concern for her mum who, prior to the start of the novel, has been diagnosed with MS. I think Wilson does a wonderful job of illustrating the reality of living with an invisible illness, dealing with fears about employment, and worries about worsening symptoms. As the novel is from Frankie’s perspective, it is worth noting that Wilson does not imply Frankie’s opinions are her mum’s lived experience! However, I really liked how the mum, Jen, is portrayed as someone with a chronic illness who has good days, meh days, bad days. This felt like realistic representation to me and I think it will resonate with readers. I loved Frankie's friendship with Sammy, her younger sister, her dog called Bear.🐻 I thought the plot dealing with her mother's MS was really well done too. There were also several points in the book where I felt that the characters (particularly rowena) said things that didn’t come across as something a person of that age would say. It very much felt like an adult writing about children (that’s not so say, of course, that children can’t be smart, witty or insightful, but there was no real balance of childlike qualities). Admittedly at almost 23 years old I am much older than the intended target audience of Jacqueline Wilson. However, as a child she was my favourite author and I have fond memories of my grandma buying both myself and my older cousin a copy of every new book which she released. I would read these books way past my bedtime hidden under the covers and finish them in one or two sittings. I was really disappointed by this read. I was expecting a lovely coming of age/coming out story but it really fell flat.I've been reading Jacqueline Wilson books since I was much younger (ahem), and her 1992 title 'The Suitcase Kid' was one of the first I remember reading. I definitely identified with the main character in that, as I was going through similar circumstances at the time. With this new book, although I'm a bit older than Frankie, I can empathise with her situation and actually, it's written so well that I'm now at an age where I can see the perspective from the adults' point of view. But Frankie starts to wonder whether these feelings she has for Sally are stronger than her other friendships. Might she really be in love? Frankie doesn't want Sally to just be her friend. She wants her to be her girlfriend. But does Sally feel the same? Popular, pretty Sally Macclesfield has been thirteen-year-old Frankie’s nemesis for a while, but when they finally start becoming friends, Frankie realises her feelings for Sally go beyond friendship. And Sally, it seems, feels the same way, or does she? While Frankie is wrestling with the confusion of Sally’s hot and cold behaviour, she’s also dealing with her mother’s illness and her two sisters - Zara, the eldest, and Sylvanian-Family-obsessed Rowena, the little one. Then there’s best friend Sam, the boy next door who might want to be something more. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - Frankie's life is not easy; it never had been. I mean, after all, having a mother with a serious physical illness and a dad who is dating another woman isn't exactly a piece of cake, and her sisters are going through the same thing. But at least she has her best friend. Frankie and Sam are best friends; they have been since they were four years old. And to this day, their friendship remains. But when they visit a mall to buy Christmas presents and run into the supposed 'school bully', Sally, things start getting more and more overwhelming, even without the stress at home.... Read Full Review

Love Frankie - Penguin Books UK Love Frankie - Penguin Books UK

I think the biggest gripe I have is that Frankie doesn’t really seem to have any journey when it comes to figuring herself out. Throughout the first third or so of the book she describes herself in ways that I can only describe as stereotypical for a young lesbian (i.e. not interested in clothes or makeup, mostly friends with boys, etc). She talks about this with seemingly no introspection, then jumps right into ‘oh I’m in love with a girl’. It didn’t feel authentic to me.

Despite this, about a quarter of the way through the book I was engrossed in the will they/won't they relationship of Sally & Frankie and I think many facets of young love and living with someone with a disability alongside a divorce were treated delicately and respectfully. I also really enjoyed the realistic portrayal of relationships, no "will you go out with me?", the characters fall in and out of them and that is so true of teen life!

Love Frankie - Jacqueline Wilson - Google Books Love Frankie - Jacqueline Wilson - Google Books

Frankie is the middle girl in a trio of sisters, trying to look after her Mum after she fell ill, their Dad left them and now her best friend wants to be her boyfriend. Her conversations with her slightly scary big sister and her Sylvanian Family obsessed little sister are lovely, and actually reminded me of my nieces.a b Allardice, Lisa (4 April 2020). "Jacqueline Wilson: 'I've never really been in any kind of closet' ". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020 . Retrieved 20 April 2020. Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award. I think it’s so important that books like Love Frankie exist, especially from authors such as Jacqueline Wilson. It’s such an approachable look at growing up, discovering new feelings and diversity. I felt that it really normalised feelings towards the same sex in a way that was approachable and I could imagine quite realistic. I felt that I could relate to the feelings Frankie was facing; first love is first love regardless of gender, and that Jacqueline, as usual, really captured what it’s like to be a teenager and have all these different feelings and emotions and challenges.