Baby Love: Jacqueline Wilson

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Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Laura does try to abort her child by taking over the counter medication but it doesn't work, and part of her is grateful that it didn't. Laura's mother later brings up the idea of abortion to Dr Betram but he bluntly tells her that it would be illegal at the stage Laura's at. The first half of the book builds up a realistic picture of 1960s Britain and takes time to develop the characters, which really helps you to understand the decisions Laura makes over the course of the novel. Sheltered by her overprotective parents and eager to fit in with new best friend Nina and appear more grown up, you can see how things spiral out of control. Jacqueline Wilson's new book is just as brilliant as her others. Featuring a pregnant teenager named Laura in 1960, Baby Love left me feeling all kinds of things. It is quite a hard-hitting story, more suited to an audience of 13 years and older. Although this is a work of historical fiction, it touches on issues of consent, women's rights, adoption and family relationships that are still very relevant today. Wilson's afterword and resources for readers affected by the story make it a valuable educational read for teenagers. 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.

Baby Love - Penguin Books UK

Jacqueline is one of the nation’s favourite authors, and her books are loved and cherished by young readers not only in the UK but all over the world. She has sold millions of books and in the UK alone the total now stands at over 35 million!

Oh My Gosh I adored this book. I have read Jacqueline Wilson since I was a child and Tracy Beaker has always been a firm favourite, one that Wilson has not, for me, been able to topple off of the top spot, until now. This is possibly one of the best books of hers that I have ever read, it is incredible. It is so well written with such well developed chatacters and a uplift, yet in many ways heartbreaking storyline. The book will pose certain questions. What sort of life was on offer in a mother and baby home of the 1960s? How will the birth of the child be handled? And what prejudices will be faced by Laura and the other young mothers? Will Laura wish to keep her baby? If so will she be encouraged or even allowed to do so? Truly moving, true-to-life, rich in detail that evokes the 1960s setting, and suffused with compassion, the beautiful afterword sees Laura in her seventies, reflecting on the courageous, life-changing decision she made all those years ago, thanks to the help of her forward-thinking aunt. Author Avatar: Jacqueline Wilson was around the same age as Laura in 1960 and there are several similarities between her mother and Laura's, including her obsession with the class system and working similar hours. She even made sure to buy Wilson a pair of 'fancy upswept glasses' instead of the NHS ones. Nina stops ignoring Laura when she hears her crying on the toilet and immediately tries to help her.

Baby Love - ReadingZone Baby Love - ReadingZone

Marilyn starts out being quite stern and under Miss Andrews thumb, but she does grow to like Laura and the other girls in her care, and eventually tearfully agrees that Laura should be allowed to keep her baby. The only downside to this book was its pacing. I felt that the book ended very abruptly which was a shame because it built so well and we got to know the characters really deeply then it just suddenly ended.I found the time Laura spent in the house of expectant mothers okay, it felt a bit like reading about boarding school but also dealing with the realities of parents who had shamed them and boys who had let them down. Laura herself does grow as a character when she thinks about the expectation placed on her vs Leon, but that is briefly stated and then never mentioned again really. The book ends up focusing on the bond between mothers and babies, and whilst I didn’t fully believe that Laura had the capacity for some of the realisations she had, I do think that could just be my scepticism. She lived in a place where there wasn’t much hope and perhaps, she developed much more than I’ve given her grace for. The ending was sweet and surprisingly something I saw coming. However, it was good for Laura and I think Wilson did a great job of showing other not so great endings for other women in the book for us to believe that Laura’s could be one of the good ones.

Baby Love by Jacqueline Wilson | Waterstones Baby Love by Jacqueline Wilson | Waterstones

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Nina falls out with Laura over the smallest slight and isn't above playing emotional mindgames with her. But she's also an incredibly loyal friend and buys Laura things without expecting anything in return. She also keeps Laura's secret about being pregnant and later visits her and Heathcote House when no-one else ever has. It's 1960 and Laura is a fourteen year old girl who is just trying to be a normal teenager despite her overprotective mother. Naive and unprepared for the adult world but desperate to prove that she's no longer a little girl, Laura ends up falling pregnant during a confusing sexual encounter with an older boy. Her parents are horrified and send her away to Heathcote House, a special home for young mothers, so she can have her child in secret and then have them adopted. Laura has other ideas and is determined to keep her daughter no matter what anyone else might say. Bilingual Bonus: It's heavily implied that Leon asks for permission to have sex with Laura, but she misunderstands it as him asking if they can cuddle as she barely understands French.

Set in 1960, Laura is a poor teenager who lives in a shantytown. She develops a friendship with another girl at school who is much well off than her but isn’t awful about it. Laura becomes a bit infatuated with the girl and her family and you can never blame her, considering her own family, who are lovely but poor and always working (she has no siblings). The girl's family welcomes her and they spend a lot of time during the summer together. One day, whilst out with her friend at the lido, Laura meets Leon and although she isn’t that interested in him, she does let him walk her home after a tiff with her friend. Leon ends up having sex with Laura, it’s a blurred line of consent as we realise Laura doesn’t actually know what is happening and is therefore never able to say yes or no. This a few months down the line leads to Laura discovering she is pregnant and as the blurb states, it ends up with her being sent away. Maybe it’s because it’s in England (or maybe because it’s a Jacqueline Wilson novel), she isn’t sentenced to a life of gloom in this home for expectant mothers, it’s certainly not the best but it isn’t the tales from those horrible Irish nuns convent. Laura comes across all sorts of girls here and they all share their tales and deal with the harsh opinions of older women and the realities of what having a baby this young can mean. Both Belinda and Jeannie take the younger Laura under their wing during her stay at Heathcote House.

Baby Love - Jacqueline Wilson - Google Books Baby Love - Jacqueline Wilson - Google Books

I can’t understand how JW can completely understand teenage anxiety and make her characters come to life in such a fluid way. This book is dark but real and I was captivated by all of the themes surrounding the main plot (don’t worry I won’t give away any spoilers!) I find JW’s writing so easy to fall into, I am always immersed in the world and the characters, I definitely felt all the emotions. Also the ending! It could have gone either way and I was so anxious throughout the book to see what would happen. Laura calls her daughter Kathleen, after her mother. She does this to try and encourage her mother to fall in love with her granddaughter so Laura can return home and keep her, but it doesn't work. Laura does regret choosing her daughter's name but settles for calling her Kathy. Laura's mother decides to travel with her to Heathcote House despite how angry she is with her because she realises just how young and frightened Laura is in that moment. Baby Love was everything I hoped for and more. While Jaqueline tells quite a horrific story it is done with beauty and care. The connection you feel with all of the characters is almost immediate and you can't help but feel your own heart break throughout the book. As always Jaqueline has this innate ability to weave an uncomfortable topic into a story that can be understood and felt by all.Mama Bear: Aunt Susannah enters Heathcote House with all the documents she needs to prove that she can take care of Laura and Kathy and refuses to take no for an answer. Sent away to save her family from shame, Laura meets girls just like her, whose families have given up on them - and they become a family for each other at the most difficult time in all their lives. Jacqueline is also a great reader, and has amassed over 20,000 books, along with her famous collection of silver rings. Potty Failure: Many of the pregnant girls end up accidentally wetting themselves when they're further along in their pregnancy and can't get to the bathroom in time.