Jacqueline Wilson is famous for her children's books, and although Love Lessons is aimed at slightly older readers, it's still best suited to young adolescents, probably girls between twelve and sixteen.
Fourteen-year-old Prudence and eleven-year-old Grace have had a somewhat unique upbringing. From a young age, they've been home schooled by their controlling father. At first it was for religious reasons, although after a while, even the vicar disagreed with their father's extreme methods.
Both girls work in their father's failing bookstore in their spare time, and, to his mind, it's what they'll do all their lives. Insistent that his younger daughter has "no more brains than a donkey" he constantly heaps criticism on her, while his idea of praising Prue is to tell her that one day she can design the dust cover for his "Magnum Opus", a work oddly reminiscent of the one Kate's husband is writing at the beginning of Nick Hornby's How to be Good. In other words, it's an arrogant self-centred man's ideas of what exactly is wrong with the world.
Prue's father is clearly the villain of the piece. He's not necessarily a bad man, just one insistent that he is right, always and forever, no matter what the rest of the world thinks. To the misfortune of the rest of the world in general and his daughters in particular he's managed to find a wife who agrees with his opinion of himself and who, partly due to his constant criticism of her, fails to stand up to him.
As you can see, the book follows Wilson's normal theme of children's issues with their parents and growing up. The storyline is oddly reminiscent of Lola Rose, mostly in the dynamics of Prue's parents relationship.
Like most of Wilson's characters, Prue is creative, and, like Ellie from Girls in Love, enjoys artwork. Her one dream is to go to art college, although, as her father's opinion is that "they don't paint at art school now, they just faff around with blocks of concrete and dead animals and pretend all that crap is creative," she doesn't seem to have much chance of achieving this. Until, that is, a heart attack takes their father out of the equation, and Prue is suddenly plunged into the terrifying world of teenagers.
With her home-made clothes and lack of social skills, Prue immediately attracts all the wrong kinds of attention. Her natural skill with writing and art alienates her from her classmates, while her lack of experience in an official environment and the gaps in her knowledge cause some of her teachers to dislike or resent her. All except for her art teacher, Rax, who quickly becomes the only person she feels she can depend on.
The entire book is told in first person, from Prue's point of view, and this enables the reader to empathize with and understand more fully her growing feelings for Rax. From this point on, the book could easily be very predictable, but, somehow, Jacqueline Wilson manages to avoid that trap, and what's left is a sweet and unique look at a forbidden relationship.
Prue isn't the most likeable of Wilson's heroines, and this book probably isn't Wilson's most absorbing. Personally, I preferred Dustbin Baby, The Lottie Project, or even The Illustrated Mum, although those were aimed at younger readers. As for older readers, the Girls series is probably preferable. Still, the truly original way in which the relationship is handled makes it worth reading, particularly for people who are already fans of Jacqueline Wilson's work.
Anyone who enjoyed this book might like to look at Jodi Picoult's Salem Falls, which also deals with inappropriate student-teacher relationships, although the book is aimed at adults, and handles the subject in a very different manner.
Fourteen-year-old Prudence and eleven-year-old Grace have had a somewhat unique upbringing. From a young age, they've been home schooled by their controlling father. At first it was for religious reasons, although after a while, even the vicar disagreed with their father's extreme methods.
Both girls work in their father's failing bookstore in their spare time, and, to his mind, it's what they'll do all their lives. Insistent that his younger daughter has "no more brains than a donkey" he constantly heaps criticism on her, while his idea of praising Prue is to tell her that one day she can design the dust cover for his "Magnum Opus", a work oddly reminiscent of the one Kate's husband is writing at the beginning of Nick Hornby's How to be Good. In other words, it's an arrogant self-centred man's ideas of what exactly is wrong with the world.
Prue's father is clearly the villain of the piece. He's not necessarily a bad man, just one insistent that he is right, always and forever, no matter what the rest of the world thinks. To the misfortune of the rest of the world in general and his daughters in particular he's managed to find a wife who agrees with his opinion of himself and who, partly due to his constant criticism of her, fails to stand up to him.
As you can see, the book follows Wilson's normal theme of children's issues with their parents and growing up. The storyline is oddly reminiscent of Lola Rose, mostly in the dynamics of Prue's parents relationship.
Like most of Wilson's characters, Prue is creative, and, like Ellie from Girls in Love, enjoys artwork. Her one dream is to go to art college, although, as her father's opinion is that "they don't paint at art school now, they just faff around with blocks of concrete and dead animals and pretend all that crap is creative," she doesn't seem to have much chance of achieving this. Until, that is, a heart attack takes their father out of the equation, and Prue is suddenly plunged into the terrifying world of teenagers.
With her home-made clothes and lack of social skills, Prue immediately attracts all the wrong kinds of attention. Her natural skill with writing and art alienates her from her classmates, while her lack of experience in an official environment and the gaps in her knowledge cause some of her teachers to dislike or resent her. All except for her art teacher, Rax, who quickly becomes the only person she feels she can depend on.
The entire book is told in first person, from Prue's point of view, and this enables the reader to empathize with and understand more fully her growing feelings for Rax. From this point on, the book could easily be very predictable, but, somehow, Jacqueline Wilson manages to avoid that trap, and what's left is a sweet and unique look at a forbidden relationship.
Prue isn't the most likeable of Wilson's heroines, and this book probably isn't Wilson's most absorbing. Personally, I preferred Dustbin Baby, The Lottie Project, or even The Illustrated Mum, although those were aimed at younger readers. As for older readers, the Girls series is probably preferable. Still, the truly original way in which the relationship is handled makes it worth reading, particularly for people who are already fans of Jacqueline Wilson's work.
Anyone who enjoyed this book might like to look at Jodi Picoult's Salem Falls, which also deals with inappropriate student-teacher relationships, although the book is aimed at adults, and handles the subject in a very different manner.
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