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Guess what!" said Amy. "It's my birthday next week and my mum says I can invite all my special friends for a sleepover party." I know some have found the transition to modern life a little jarring, as the original book was set in the early 2000s and the sequel includes references to TikTok and drag queens, but to me it didn't read as weird or out of place, simply a different aspect of life at the primary school not shown in the first book. I think the addition of a drag queen was interesting, as I don't think all parents will necessarily enjoy the talk about nightclubs and might find the switching pronouns complicated. I'm not a parent, so I really don't know where I stand on this. I think maybe a little more explanation could've been nice, as I know as a child I would've been very confused by Uncle Gary's appearance as a woman and the use of she/her to refer to him, on and off!
It’s not like I’ve grown out of her books though or anything because I still read her older books and enjoy them. It’s just this story felt a bit unnecessary. I loved the continuation of disability representation though, and I found the drag queen reference interesting- not something I’ve come across in a children’s book before! I thought Lily’s disability was handled in a much more educational way in this newer book too, with explanations to the specialist school she goes to and the use of Makaton. Jacqueline is also a great reader, and has amassed over 20,000 books, along with her famous collection of silver rings. The only issue I have - I found a few small inaccuracies. The main one is how much more modern this book is than the other - there’s tiktok and mobile phones and social media etc. I get how many years later it is but the difference is huge.As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children’s Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame.
Where this book really shines is with the writing of Lily. Lily is an actual real character now, where as in the original book she was just like a prop or plot device. The first book really did Lily wrong with the way she was written, and I'm glad JW righted that wrong here. Lily is shown to be her own person, with her own thoughts and feelings, just like every other disabled person. (I am disabled myself. I am autistic. I thought there was something wrong with me when I first read the first book as a child because I'm disabled like Lily, just in a different way.) Lily is smart and capable enough to communicate with her sister Daisy, and they have some lovely interactions in the book. I loved Lily's character. She's a lot of fun. Jacqueline Wilson inspired my love of reading as a child and it is her I have to thank for my lifelong love for it. Sleepovers is one of the first Jacqueline Wilson books that I remember reading as a child - and rereading over and over again! So despite the fact that I am now 27 years old, I requested the ARC for this follow up on NetGalley and was delighted to be approved! 🤩But Daisy is left out. Daisy’s sister, Lily, is non-verbal, but she’s learned Makaton at her new school. She signs to Daisy that she wants her own sleepover. Also, as a disabled person, I feel like Lily's sleepover was a bit much. Like I think I'd have had sensory overwhelm with all this! But then, I didn't like sleeping over at other kid's houses! Lily, Daisy's older sister, decides that she is also going to throw a brilliant sleepover on the same night as Chloe's. How can they possibly compete? Tween friendship dramas, inclusive characters and best friends make this the perfect book for 8-12 year old readers. Lily is disabled and represented in a realistic and respectful manner. Her interactions with her friends and family using the sign / symbol language of Makaton ( called Key Word Sign in Australia and used by people all over the world who have speech delay or communication difficulties) and joy at being understood, included and able to make her wants known is palpable. For access to the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium seating rows A to C and wheelchair spaces in the Front Stalls, please enter via the Artists' Entrance in the Queen Elizabeth Hall Slip Road (Level 1). I think this book is great for the target audience. For an adult who spent her childhood religiously reading Jacqueline Wilson, not so much.
A sequel to Sleepovers, first published in 2001(!!) TBSITW follows on from the first book. The first chapter is a brief recap of the first book, which I was glad for, as its been a while! Daisy's former friend Chloe is throwing the world's best sleepover, and Daisy's sister, Lily, isn't going to let that happen,and they decide to throw their own sleepover on the same day, with their best friends and family. Wilson is joined on stage by illustrator of the book, Rachael Dean, who draws some characters from the book live on stage. I was quite looking forward to reading this when I first heard that Jacqueline Wilson was doing a sequel to her 2001 book Sleepovers, 22 years after the original, and was interested to see what it would be like. Despite seemingly continuing from where they left off, taking place only right after the original book, it included some present-day elements such as TikTok, which didn't seem to fit in with the timeline of things, being a continuity error at that, given that the previous book took place in 2001, long before TikTok and most social media platforms and apps for that matter existed, but then again I could see why it would be easier to include these elements into a story being written today, especially when involving kids with all the trends they following being social media centered.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. But anyway, I have to say I didn't realise just how short a read this would be and was therefore a little disappointed by this, having thought I'd be in for a good summers read, only to finish it within 2 days. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable enough read, I liked how Lily's sleepover that rivalled Chloe's in that it was all about quality over quantity, with just Daisy and Lily and their respective best friends Emily and Natalie, like I thought that was a really nice concept. It was interesting as well showing how impressionable young people can really be, with Amy and Bella having been easily influenced into attending Chloe's birthday party due to having the chance to swim and dance, with both these things being their respective favourite hobbies! On the other hand though, it would have been nice to see more of Amy, Bella, Daisy and Emily in their friendship group together. There’s going to be a swim in a luxury pool, a special makeover for every guest, and a real-life meeting with a social media superstar. A moving look at friendship, sleepovers and siblings from the much loved, bestselling Jacqueline Wilson. Read more Look Inside Details
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