Product Description

When my parents split up they didn't know what to do with me...My family always lived at Mulberry Cottage. Mum, Dad, me - and Radish, my Sylvanian rabbit. But now, Mum lives with Bill the Baboon and his three kids. Dad lives with Carrie and her twins. And where do I live? I live out of a suitcase. One week with Mum's new family, one week with Dad's. It's as easy as A B C. That's what everyone says. But all I want is to go home - back to Mulberry Cottage...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14788 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-05
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Lesley Dunlop reads The Suitcase Kid in this unabridged three-cassette pack.

Although there are many children's books about divorce, few move beyond bland therapeutic preaching into the realm of well-told stories. This one does. A hard look at joint-custody life, The Suitcase Kid follows Andrea West and her tiny stuffed rabbit, Radish, through the painful adjustment of being a kid with divorced parents. She must leave the home she loves with the mulberry tree in the front yard, and deal with parents who still fight, step parents, step siblings, two different bedrooms (neither of which is really hers), loneliness, and an acute longing for the past. Her grades sink. Her friends drift away. And she's not quite sure how to fix any of it.

Wisely, Jacqueline Wilson doesn't offer instant solutions; rather, she chronicles Andrea's journey to the beginning of equilibrium in her new life. Things will never be the way they were, but, as the book suggests, they'll get better over time. And because it's well written and honest, The Suitcase Kid will appeal to any child who enjoys realistic fiction, not just those who "need" to read a book about divorce. (The publisher recommends the The Suitcase Kid for ages 8-12, but it could well appeal to children who are a couple of years younger or older.)

Running time is three hours five minutes. --Susan Harrison

Amazon.co.uk Review
Although there are many children's books about divorce, few move beyond bland therapeutic preaching into the realm of well-told stories. This one does. A hard look at joint-custody life, The Suitcase Kid follows Andrea West and her tiny stuffed rabbit, Radish, through the painful adjustment of being a kid with divorced parents. She must leave the home she loves with the mulberry tree in the front yard, and deal with parents who still fight, step parents, step siblings, two different bedrooms (neither of which is really hers), loneliness, and an acute longing for the past. Her grades sink. Her friends drift away. And she's not quite sure how to fix any of it.

Wisely, Jacqueline Wilson doesn't offer instant solutions; rather, she chronicles Andy's journey to the beginning of equilibrium in her new life. Things will never be the way they were, but, as the book suggests, they'll get better over time. And because it's well written and honest, The Suitcase Kid will appeal to any child who enjoys realistic fiction, not just those who "need" to read a book about divorce. (The publisher recommends the The Suitcase Kid for ages 8-12, but it could easily serve kids who are a couple of years younger or older.)

From the Back Cover
When my parents split up they didn't know what to do with me . .

My family always lived at Mulberry Cottage. Mum, Dad, me - and Radish, my lovable toy rabbit. But now Mum lives with Bill the Baboon and his three kids. Dad lives with Carrie and her twins. And where do I live? I live out of a suitcase. One week with Mum’s new family, one week with Dad’s.

It’s as easy as A B C. That’s what everyone says. But all I want is to go home - back to Mulberry Cottage . . .

An all-time Jacqueline Wilson favourite, now with an extra-special new introduction!

Customer Reviews

highly recommended
I chose to review this book as part of my children's literature project and found myself unable to put it down! The structure is somewhat unusual (though clever) as each chapter takes the reader through the alphabet ('A is for...Andrea'...etc). This may be quite intriguing for young readers, encouraging them to finish the book and discover what each letter stands for in Andrea's life. When approaching the content, some readers may feel the book paints a negative picture of step families, though i must say I don't agree. It simply outlines how difficult it can be to adjust and I am certain that young readers will find the book helpful. While many will be able to relate to the character 'Andrea' (the 'suitcase kid', whose parents have divorced), the story may also help children unfamilliar with divorce to understand what friends may be going through.
Highly recommended!

BRILL BOOK
This is a sad book because she is unhappy and cannot have what she wants most. I do not like divorces and I would not like to be in her place. I wish her parents and all parents really would think harder before they decide to get married in the first place and have children because it is very upsetting for the children if they change their minds and split up!

Some bits are funny too. Jacqueline Wilson always writes in a funny way and her arguments and quarrels have funny insults in them.

I did enjoy the book but I do not know why really because it is upsetting. My favourite parts were when she was playing with Radish in the pretend home she made for her by some elderly people called Mr and Mrs Peters.

I would definitely rate this book 10/ 10 and would recommend this book to older children - maybe 8 or over, because younger ones might find it very upsetting and also some of the insults are a bit rude. It is a lovely book, a classic Wilson, and is now one of my favourites. The Suitcase Kid has won many awards and was a special book for Coventry, where I live, for the end of last year.

If your parents are divorced I guess it might be upsetting but then again maybe it would have some good ideas on how to get along for you or maybe it would make you feel better.

A wonderful bed-time story book - a little depressing
I enjoyed reading this book but, being a child with divorced parents, I felt slightly edgy about what Jacqueline Wilson wrote. this story is about a girl who has divorced parents and has to move from place to place, sometimes her Mum's, sometimes her Dad's. I felt rather depressed because Jacqueline Wilson made the reason why her Mum and Dad extremely surreal. I had difficulty coping with the fact that she made the reason that they argued too much, and that every time they saw each other, they would start a row. This, of course, is not the case of divorcement, and could be a little too harsh for children with divorced parents. Apart from that, it was a very captivating story.