The Diamond Girls is a novel by Jacqueline Wilson. Wilson has written many other children and tween novels. I haven’t read any of her other works, but I saw some of the series Girls in Love when I was younger. That was an adaption of the book of the same title by Wilson. The book is written in first person perspective and follows story of ten year old Dixie Diamond. The novel is set in England. Dixie is the youngest of four children, all daughters. They are a poor family. Dixie is a daydreamer; Rochelle (the next oldest)is a flirt and a drama queen; Jude is tough; and the oldest, Martine, is forever thinking of her boyfriend. Their mother, Sue, is heavily pregnant at the start of the novel and is ever so glad to be finally having a baby boy. Each of the Diamond girls has a different father. Martine's is in Australia, Jude's is violet, Rochelle's is dead, and Dixie's is an embalmer. Sue spends a lot of time fortune telling, reading tarot cards and calculating star charts. The Diamond Girls live in a flat; the neighboring mothers think Sue is a "slag". Sue buys a new house on the Planet Estate. They all think it is going to be a lovely big beautiful house. Only it isn't. It is run down, dirty, graffitied, and has somebody's vomit in the kitchen sink. Before they have even unloaded all of their furniture (from Bruce the florist's van) Sue's water breaks and is rushed to hospital. This is my view of the events at the start of the novel. I am viewing it though critical eyes. A younger child may see the events differently.I did not enjoy reading this book. It was a pain and a struggle. I found myself constantly putting off reading it. I didn't find myself relating to any of the characters, though I can see some tweens relating to Dixie. This is because Dixie is constantly being told that she is too little to be of any use. Dixie is always going off into her own little dream land - Dixie Planet. I, personally, can't stand it (in a book). It isn't enjoyable to read within the context of the book. And as I can really only see tweens and younger children (girls) relating to Dixie the content of the book is inappropriate. There is a lot of swearing (though the actual swear words are not written in the book). Some of Dixie's sisters are in a situation where they may have been raped. And Dixie's friend and neighbour is beaten by her mother! And one of the key points in the story (spoilers!)is that Dixie's mother is pretending her baby daughter is her son. Sue is either experiencing post-natal depression or has pi-polar disorder. Dixie's older sisters and Sue are constantly fighting; and it drove me mad reading it! It was so repetitive! It was almost the same argument over and over again! The ending of the book feels like a bit of a cop out. I don’t want to spoil it but everything seems to tie together for the wrong reasons. Dixie ends up in an accident and everyone realizes how important family is blah, blah. It feels half done to me.However, I see the elements in the novel that make it a good children/tween book. The main character is relatable, to some people. The subject matter is a bit more advanced compared to children’s books. Though I don't personally agree with this it does make the book attractive to some tweens. The main character daydreams and has lots of fantasies. The text is simple enough for the target audience and is easy to read. The story is dumbed down for the audience but still allows them to work the story out for themselves. And it has a happy ending where the main character has her wishes come true.All in all I didn't enjoy the book., at all. But I can see how it may be enjoyable for the target audience.
My sister has currently been making her way through the Jacqueline Wilson collection so after she had finished reading this book I also decided to read it. The book is based on the diamond family. Dixie diamond is the youngest in the family who has three older sisters and a pregnant mother who is due to give birth. With a new baby on the way the mother decides they need a bigger and better home. On the other hand the eldest daughter Martine does not want to leave because of her boyfriend. Preparing to move to the new house the family receive a shook when they find that their new home has been broken into, so they try their best to restore the house. Having now moved everything seems to fall apart with Jude getting into a fight and Rochelle finding a new boyfriend. What’s even more confusing is that the mother has been telling everyone that she wants a boy but unfortunately it’s another girl. Yet she doesn't tell anybody and cancels the baby’s identity until Dixie finds out. I personally found the topic of blue bell (Dixie’s bird) very confusing as she pretends it’s alive when as a matter of fact it’s pretend. I personally did not think the book was that good but I could see the appeal for young reader, with current topics being raised such as boyfriends ect. But I still think this book would be better for older reader.
What do You think about The Diamond Girls (2005)?
As usual,Jacqueline Wilson has pleased me with The Diamond Girls.Martine,Jude,Rochelle and Dixie are the Diamond girls and their mother was going to give birth to another child,and for the first time,the doctors said that the baby was going to be a boy.Of course,Mrs Diamond is nothing but overjoyed.After Mrs Diamond gives birth to her son,she told all her daughters that nobody was to help her feed him,bathe him or change his diapers.One day,when Mrs Diamond is ill and none of her sisters are around,Dixie,the second youngest child,has no choice but to change her brother's diapers.When she changes his diapers,she notices something very strange.Her brother didnt even have a wee!What is the mystery behind this?Find out by reading this book,a must read!!!!
—Anutra Guru
I thought this book was ok. The book 'The Diamond Girls' did not keep me interested as I was reading the book. I believe it could of flowed more smoothly from chapter to chapter. There are four Diamond girls. There is Martine, Jude, Rochelle and Dixie. Each diamond girl has a different father but only the mom lives at home with the girls. But that's the end of the Diamond girl run because the mom having another baby, and this time it will be a boy!If things aren't crazy enough the girls have to pack up their things and move out of the apartment to move to a different house. While their mother is having the baby boy, the 4 Dimond girls have to get the messy house ready for the new addition. I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone, it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. There really isn't any other books like this that I have read.
—Molly Veitch
I cannot even begin to describe how profoundly amazing this book is or the depth of the feelings that it evoked in me whilst I was reading it. I am a huge Jacquline Wilson fan but this book was just... something else. She wrote boldly about topics that not many authors would be brave enough to tackle in a children's book and she did it so amazingly that I was able to see all of it through a child's view point. It was definitely the darkest of her books that I've read to date and maybe that's why I loved it so much.
—Summaiya
