Jacqueline Wilson

 Andy's parents are divorced. Suddenly she is no longer able to live in her beloved Mulberry Cottage, but is forced to split her time between the new homes of each parent on a weekly basis. She also has to split her time between her parents' new families.

  Feeling fragmented and forgotten, Andy tries to come to terms with the new arrangements, but ultimately feels that she does not actually belong anywhere at all anymore. The only constant source of support for her is Raddish, her sylvanian family mascot.

  As her schoolwork suffers, her parents argue, she is bullied by her step-sister and things generally go from bad to worse, Andy must find a way of coming to terms with her situation.

  Eventually Andy is able to find a great place to escape from her problems. Somewhere where she and Raddish can play happily without having to worry. But what will Andy do when her precious little rabbit gets lost? How will she manage to cope with her waring parents and their families? Somehow she must get Raddish back!

  In The Suitcase Kid, Jacquline Wilson has managed to address the distressing impact of divorce on a child in a way that shows real understanding. All too often children in Andy's situation do not get to have their feelings heard, but this book very sensitively deals with the issues that arise.

  The chapters are organised using the letters of the alphabet, each following Andy's thoughts. My only gripe with this book (out pops the English teacher) is the description of a Haiku. Wilson describes Haikus as short Japanese poems, whilst this is true, in order to qualify as a Haiku they must have three lines and a syllable pattern of 5,7,5. Therefore, none of her poems are in fact Haikus (phew, glad we cleared that one up!). This, however, does not stop The Suitcase Kid from being a good book. I would recommend this text to anyone (though may be more for girls), particularly those either experiencing parental break-up themselves or to those who have friends in Andy's situation. It might also be helpful for the parents going through separation to have a read too!