story shorts

0 Comments | Press, The; Christchurch, New Zealand, Feb 25, 2006 | by SMITH, Paula

THE DIAMOND GIRLS by Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Corgi Books, 230pp, $19.95.

Dixie is the youngest of four sisters each with a different father. Their mother, a ditzy New Age crystal gazer, is pregnant again, and on the eve of the birth her family move to a rundown house in a seedy estate. After the birth, Dixie's mother has some kind of postnatal breakdown. Not only is she unable to care for her existing kids, she is also in complete denial that the new baby is not a boy as foretold. Each of Dixie's self-centred sisters is going off the rails in her own way. Dixie copes by fantasising about better times with her stuffed budgie Bluebell and by roping her absent father's dorky but resourceful mate, Bruce, into making the house habitable and otherwise saving the family. On top of everything else, Dixie becomes worried for her new friend, Mary, across the alleyway, whose controlling mother is disciplining Mary with increasing cruelty. Dixie is never ground down by the chaos around her. That is typical of Jacqueline Wilson's gutsy heroines who just get on with their own young lives despite the shortcomings of adults around them. Vintage Jacqueline Wilson: non- judgmental social realism with a warmly humorous undertone. Especially good for 10-year-old girls. Also available by Jacqueline Wilson is Love Lessons, released early last year. Again, Wilson's economically written brand of social realism is a welcome change from the rich diet of fantasy fiction served to young readers these days. Love Lessons is one of her best books for older readers. --Paula Smith