April Showers (so called because of her birth date, April 1st, and her tendency to burst into tears at the drop of a hat) was unceremoniously dumped in a rubbish bin when she was only a few hours old. Her young life has so far passed by in a blur of ever-changing foster homes, but as she enters her teens she decides it is time to find out the truth about her real family.
My Review
I used to love Jacqueline Wilson books as a child, but moved onto other things/genres as i got older, swapping the girly novels for fantasy and adventure. However i have recently got back into this sort of story and occasionally will pick one up. Last weekend I was channel hopping and found the film on telly and decided to watch it. It was only a short film but I really enjoyed it, so naturally as a bookworm I wanted to see how the novel compared. I must say the film was very faithful to the book, in some ways i am disappointed i saw the film first as i kept picturing that instead of letting my imagination work, but i still enjoyed the book. Wilson has once again tackled a sensitive subject, abandonment, breakdowns of families and children in care. April was put in a dustbin behind a pizza parlour mere hours after she was born, found by a young pizza boy she is then sent into care, but soon adopted. However this ends tragically *SPOILER ALERT* when her 'dad' walks out on them, her 'mum' then kills herself. this leads to a downward spiral where April is sent from home to home and then boarding schools.
As a book for older readers, there isn't a lot of content, it is a very short story at only 140 odd pages, but it covers a lot of ground and i could feel myself sympathizing with April and wishing her well.
I would say only children of 9+ should read it due to the issues of Suicide, but other than that it is a very well written book, and I can see why Jacqueline Wilson is one of the most successful writers around.
My Rating
I would give this book a 7/10 very well written but very short, I wanted more, not sure i would re-read it. i would watch the film again though. but, give it a try. :D
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