In just over a week, on the 17th March, Jacqueline Wilson is gracing readers with her presence once more with a new novel. Now, you’re probably thinking that those of us at Prose Before are much too old for Jacqueline Wilson, and you’d be right, but that doesn’t stop the excitement. As an author who defined so many of our childhoods, and certainly mine, a new novel from Jacquline Wilson is very good news. Wilson’s Baby Love is a novel for her older readers (yay! we don’t have to give up on reading her just yet), and according to the author’s twitter it's all about ‘teen pregnancy, family troubles and unlikely friendships, set in 1960’. It sounds so up my street, I love anything set in the 60s and really enjoy novels exploring family and friendships and the distinction between those - I am SO looking forward to getting my hands on a copy!
In my excitement, I’ve been thinking a lot about the books I used to read when I was younger. I’ve been an avid reader since the age of about 7, and Jacqueline Wilson really served me well from then until I was probably 12. I loved how dramatic all her books were, and many of them - Dustbin Baby, Lola Rose, Vicky Angel and My Sister Jodie to name a few - felt like they were such a juicy read, far beyond my years! I think there’s a little bit of a running joke that those of us who read Jacqueline Wilson when we were so young would be shocked to think of reading that kind of stuff at such a young age now, but at the time I loved it. My Sister Jodie was the first book to ever make me cry, and series like Hetty Feather and Sapphire Battersea really started a love of historical fiction for me.
But Jacqueline Wilson wasn’t my only favourite childhood author - I also loved reading Cathy Cassidy, and Louise Rennison’s Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging series was a favourite of mine until I was at least fourteen! I also loved a few older novels when I was younger (wouldn’t be me if I didn’t somehow find a way to wedge a classic into every post!), and Anne of Green Gables was up there for me!
To celebrate the release of Wilson’s new novel, I asked my followers on Instagram what their favourites were when they were younger - lots of people were huge fans of Jacqueline Wilson too (as they should be!), but a few responses were:
‘I was obsessed with the Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton’ - @bookishlara
‘Warriors by Erin Hunter’ - @freddieslibrary
‘The Two of a Kind Mary Kate and Ashley series’ - @talkwordywithamy
‘Cathy Cassidy Ginger Snaps!’ - @chloergomez
A lot of responses shared similar favourites with me, and there were some I’d never even heard of! Either way, I know I’m looking forward to reigniting my love for my childhood favourites with Baby Love on the 17th March!
Sophie
@sophsbookss
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