The Suitcase Kid is a story about a girl named Andy, aged 11; her parents are separating but both Mum and Dad want Andy to live with them when all Andy wants is to live back in mulberry cottage with the whole family including Radish, Andy’s toy Sylvanian rabbit. Andy decides to live one week in house A with mum and Bill’s 3 children and one week in house B with Dad, Carrie and her twins. Andy has been thrown into new homes, step-parents, step-brothers and sisters, her school work is suffering, she can’t listen in lessons, loses books, is getting ill and worn out and having to live out of a suitcase.Andy finds a “New mulberry cottage” on her way home from school where she regularly plays with radish at the mulberry tree at the back of the garden. Andy is forced to run away from her mum’s house because she has lost radish at the mulberry tree. To Andy’s surprise she is welcomed at the “new mulberry house” by Mr and Mrs Peters, Andy’s now “adopted grandparents” and residence of the “new mulberry cottage”. Andy still lives between home A and B, but now has home C where she can play all she wants, every day!The story touches on some very serious and true scenarios including divorce, new families, new homes, moving away from friends, the affects parent separation can have on school life, “change over days”, parents arguing, counselling sessions and running away.The book doesn’t hide away from the hurt and pain separation can cause and what I like about the book is that it doesn’t paint a fluffy picture that everything will be fine. It is very honest and direct. Many children will read the book and may relate and that in itself can be very comforting. Had the book and have been an unrealistic interpretation of separation in that its easy, it wouldn’t have had such meaning and honesty.There is a clever use of the alphabet for the chapters. Andy uses A,B,C to describe her living situation and I feel the alphabet is reflective on the journey children and families will go through during times like these.I would have liked a more detailed reflection on how Andy feels now looking back over the changes. In the last page of the last chapter Andy speaks about how she has now found her house C, something of a middle ground type house; but she doesn’t reflect on her emotions or her journey and being a book with so much to relate to, a reflection would have been a really nice summery to the story.
Well, I read it, so I guess I can put it my "read" shelves.This is actually a major first. It's my first "book to read before I let my child read it" book. Marcus picked it up at the library and when I asked it turned out it was because he liked the name. I didn't take much notice at the library, but when he picked it to read tonight I thought I better take a look.This isn't a book for a six year old boy and I won't be giving it to him to read. But it's a good book for an older girl dealing with parents who have separated or divorced, or indeed any girl who wants to try to understand this issue.As an adult reader of fiction, I wanted a more significant ending. Andy is unhappy when her parents split and wants them back together. As both have new partners this isn't going to happen. By the end of the book, Andy has found her way to acceptance of the situation more than anything. Which is probably a very realistic result and totally appropriate for children reading this ho might be in a similar situation.As a parent in a stable relationship, I thought the parents' behaviour was terrible - both were more caught up in arguing with each other and focusing on their new partners than taking time to understand how Andy was coping. I'd have liked to give them both a good shaking or a sharp slap up the head.However, sadly I realise that this may well be a realistic situation and this i s a better book for a child reading for sticking with a much less than perfect situation. I'm also grateful that I haven't had to deal with such things myself, either when I was a child or now that I'm in a solid and happy marriage.Marcus won't be reading this, but I'm actually rather glad I did and it certainly gave me a new perspective. I can see why Jacqueline Wilson is well thought of as an author for children. When Marcus gets a bit older, I hope I remember her as someone for him to try. I just really, really glad he doesn't need this one.
What do You think about The Suitcase Kid (2006)?
Is it “as easy as ABC” when your parents split up? Probably it is not, certainly not for ten - year – old Andy.She has new stepsiblings, two houses to live in and she is deeply unhappy dreaming about coming back to her Mulberry Cottage, the place where she lived with her parents, to a life she used to have before the divorce. But it is not possible, not any more. She needs to find her way to cope with that difficult situation. She is upset, argues with her new families, feels lonely, but that does not last long. Finding a new mulberry tree or making friends with Graham are some of the moments that help her with accepting these new circumstances. She manages to find her own place, even though she literally lives in different houses.This excellent book is structured in a very appealing manner, as the short chapters are organized in alphabetical order. Despite describing a complex issue, the story is humorous and very comprehensible which makes it enjoyable to read. Moreover, Jacqueline Wilson presents feelings and emotions in a very realistic way, so readers can relate to them easily. As the book deals with the problems of finding your own place and adjusting to various circumstances I would recommend it to all children in their last years of KS2, not only those who have to cope with split families. Very engaging book!
—Anna
This story is about Andy whose parents are separated and Andy's attempts in reuniting them. The book explores the various trials and tribulations Andy has to go through given that Andy has to live between two houses and families. Eventually Andy realises that there will not be a reunion between her parents in the way that she had hoped.This is a good book to use with Year 5 and 6 to explore author's writing techniques. For example, the chapters are in alphabetical order with each letter relating to the chapter content. I.e. I is for ill, Q is for question. The children can also explore other books by Jacqueline Wilson and discuss that she writes a lot on familiar settings. It is also a good book to compare characters, languages, settings and themes.This can be a good book to recommend to a child who may be going through the same things that Andy went through. It can make a child realise that many times we can relate to characters in novels and we can learn a lot from them and the author too. This can bring to light the importance of reading to children.
—Tahmina Alam
3.5 bintangOrangtua Andrea bercerai. Dan dia harus memilih antara Mum atau Dad. Andrea hanya memiliki satu teman. Namanya Radish. Radish itu boneka kelinci kecil kesayangannya. Andrea tak mau memilih. Dia ingin tetap di Mulberry Cottage milik mereka. dengan pohon murberi di taman mereka. Namun akhirnya keputusan yang diambil adalah dia seminggu harus bersama Mum, kemudian seminggu bersama Dad. Dan begitu seterusnya.Kehidupan Andy, panggilan untuk Andrea, berubah drastis. Karena Mum dan Dad memiliki pasangan lain yang juga sudah memiliki anak. Dari anak tunggal yang selalu memiliki segalanya sendirian. Andy tiba-tiba harus punya kakak dan adik. Sayangnya tidak semua saudara barunya itu menyenangkan.Buku ini pake bab sesuai abjad. Jadi dari A sampai Z. Agak boring sih di tengah-tengah. Karena tokoh Andy sendiri ga ada kemajuan. Masih aja berharap begini begitu. Justru yang berkembang itu kakak-kakak dan adik-adik tirinya.Tapi ada yang bikin aku nangis sih. Pas dia nemu rumah dengan pohon kayak rumah lamanya. Pas Radish hilang. Dan pas ketemu kakek nenek pemilik murberi baru itu... :D
—Mery
