Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
Project Fairy' follows Mabs, an albeit irritating protagonist (hence the missing 0.75 star!) and her unconventional mother and little brother. Mabs does encompass the same trademark features of most JW protagonists, with her pale skin and mousy hair and skinny legs, but that's probably to do with her own childhood and insecurities. The illustrations are more diverse than I've seen in a JW book for a long time, which was also so nice to see.
She calls a boy out on making a sexist remark, too. Is she an avatar, a proxy, of JW trying to be feminist and sensitive nowadays after all? I can only tell when a character is not white by the illustrations. Did JW have a hand in that? Also, I didn't want to carry hate in my heart forever, and not for an author's long bibliography (not the author herself, to be clear) and works that had been a part of my childhood, and of my start in my reading life. A heart-warming time travel adventure about family and friendship from the much-loved, bestselling Jacqueline Wilson. 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.JW has shown she's not afraid to include LBGTQ characters in her kids' books before (though in my opinion, 'Rent a Bridesmaid' contains her one true positive rep), and in 'Project Fairy', there is only the slight implication of queer content. When we first see Robin's group of five-year-old friends, a girl and a boy want him for a boyfriend. He agrees to be a boyfriend to both. Of course, this could be viewed as merely toddlers being cute (Mum is like, "Awe bless 'em!") and not understanding how relationships work. Plus the girl and boy aren't named and they don't appear again afterwards. Mab mentions her neighbours Michael and Lee twice or three times, and they might be a gay couple, but we never meet them, so am I reaching? Another lovely book from Jacqueline Wilson, an easy 4.25 stars from me. I've read all her new books and absolutely adore Rachael Dean's illustrations, and this was no different for me... and definitely the kind of book I would have loved to read as a child, filled with fairy magic and history and all the heartache and family angst you'd expect from JW. Then I went to the Victorian Fairy Painting exhibition at the Royal Academy twenty five years ago. I’ve always been fascinated by anything Victorian so I felt I could just about stomach the fairy theme.
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. A magical, captivating story about fairies, families and friendship from the brilliant, award-winning Jacqueline Wilson. When Peter Pan begged the audience to save Tinker Bell’s life by clapping our hands if we believed in fairies I didn’t join in. It just felt too silly. Of course I didn’t believe in a flashing light. Plus I’d been let down by the so-called real fairies. My friends at school said the Tooth Fairy would leave sixpence under my pillow when my teeth fell out – but she failed to make an appearance. My mother thought the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny and even Father Christmas were pointless whimsy. I was given a chocolate egg at Easter and a big Christmas box of gifts on the 25th, but Mum made sure I knew that they were down to her own generosity. In the end, as a reward for caring for her, Bindweed grants a wish for Mab and she meets her father once again. Mab realises he is an absolute, cowardly loser without any self esteem or strength…. How had she not seen it all along? Her and her mum and brother do a runner and go home. Then and there, they realise that their father didn’t deserve them and their peaceful, cosy warm lives. They continue living on, with their mums new boyfriend and Bindweed meeting her cult, I mean family, once again.
The ending is kind of rushed, too, but perhaps an open ending, where we don't know most of the characters' fates, is realistic? In a story about fairies? I really love how realistically the storyline with Mabs' dad comes across, too. Without spoiling the plot, he doesn't serve as some fairytale prince coming to whisk Mabs' mum off her feet, but for what he is... a coward, and a failure. But it doesn't really matter, because Mabs' mum is trying her best to stay happy and healthy, and the kids are well-rounded and have everything they need. The illustrations and depictions of their lives are just so cosy. Edie is fascinated by Victorian times, and she's just desperate to be cast in the lead role of her drama club production of Oliver. When she's given a real Victorian notebook she's determined to write the best story ever, all about a girl in a workhouse. But when she starts writing, something strange happens.
Great Deal 
New Comment