Shelf life: Looking at secular books

Sarah Allen  |  Features  |  Secular Shelf Life
Date posted:  1 Nov 2007
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TRACY BEAKER By Jacqueline Wilson

THE ROMAN MYSTERIES (Orion) By Caroline Lawrence

J.K. Rowling gets a lot of attention, and rightly so, her books have influenced an entire generation. But do you know who the next best selling children’s writer is?

She was Children’s Laureate for 2006/07, and her most famous creation must be Tracy Beaker, a series of books which has spun off into TV shows, a stage play and full length film, not to mention school bags, pencil cases, lunch boxes...

Significant talent

Jacqueline Wilson has a significant talent. She writes in a style which is accessible for the newly-confident reader, and yet covers subjects and emotions with a wit and sensitivity which will satisfy many older girls. Her books cover painful situations of bereavement, poverty, bullying, foster care, divorce and step-parents. Tracy Beaker, for example, is in a children’s home, after two failed fostering arrangements.

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