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beckyyreadss's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I originally read this book when I was around 11 years old. However, during lockdown and doing some spring cleaning I came across my bookset of Jacqueline Wilson books that I have. I decided I would re-read them and then review them. I don’t remember this one, so it was like reading it for the first time and this book is one of Jacqueline’s messed up storylines.
This book is based on Andy West, her parents are divorced, and her tiny stuffed rabbit named Radish seems to be her only comfort in the world. She must leave the home she loves with the mulberry tree in the front yard and deal with parents who still fight, stepparents who can act cruelly towards her, stepsiblings who don’t her touching their stuff whilst she is sharing two different bedrooms, loneliness and a longing for the past. Her schoolwork drops, her friends drift away, and she’s not quite sure how to fix any of it. Eventually, though, a new normality begins to settle on her life. Even if she doesn’t like it.
This book shouldn’t be a children’s book. I think there could be a way to do a children’s book about parents being divorced but I feel like it was done the wrong way. I am a child of divorce, and I am in a mixed family, so I know about difficulties with getting used to awkward situations and all about parents fighting on pick up days. Andy’s problems would be solved if she didn’t switch weeks and if she had a room to call her own, yet she was sleeping in bathrooms and on floors – why didn’t any adult pick up on this. The family therapist should have picked this up more and social services should have been called for both Andy’s mum and dad.
The only decent thing about this book was the two old, lonely people who wanted to spend time with Andy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Emotional abuse, Cursing, and Pregnancy
chalkletters's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
The Suitcase Kid might have been the first Jacqueline Wilson book I ever read; I think I picked it up to fill one of those post-sleepover mornings at a neighbours house when I was the first to wake up. I didn’t have my own copy, so it wasn’t one of the books I could revisit and I’d forgotten almost everything except the basic premise and the inclusion of a Sylvanian Families toy, of which I was envious even as a child. (Not of the toy itself, so much, as of the specialness. Despite priding myself on my imagination, I never had a special toy, let alone one that I believe was real and treated as an imaginary friend.)
Jacqueline Wilson’s plot is simple enough, but charming. Reading children’s books, it’s often much easier to see the structure of a story than in more complicated works. In this case, Andy is sad about her family circumstances, and Jacqueline Wilson slowly introduces things which help her adapt to her new situation until she feels happy again, with a small crisis just before the resolution. It’s not ground-breaking, but the details are delightful, especially all Radish’s adventures, and Nick Sharratt’s illustrations of them.
Even for someone who’s never been in Andy’s situation, her character felt relatable. While her step-siblings aren’t given vast amounts of page time, they felt more-or-less real, especially Katie and Graham. Zen and Crystal, by contrast, aren’t as fully fleshed-out as they could have been. The theme of finding a new home, and getting used to a new family situation, is definitely relatable outside the specific circumstances of divorce, and the way Jacqueline Wilson tied that to the arrival of new infant siblings was particularly effective.
The Suitcase Kid was a very welcome change of pace, and I’ll definitely be holding onto my copy now that I have one of my very own!
Content Warnings
Minor: Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
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