This is a coming-of-age story about freedom, belonging and complicated attachment. Its central relationship places a young teenager and a married teacher in an emotionally charged situation, alongside difficult changes at home and school.
More about this book
Another superb novel for older readers from our best-selling authorFourteen-year-old Prue and her sister Grace have been educated at home by their controlling, super-strict father all their lives. They know they are different to 'normal' girls but their attempts to find out what being an ordinary teenager are like - buying nice clothes instead of wearing Mum's odd hand-made garments, reading teenage magazines etc - are greeted with fury by their Dad. But when Dad has a stroke and ends up in hospital, unable to move or speak, Prue suddenly discovers what it's like to have a little freedom. Unable to cope with their education and a sick husband, the girls' mother sends them to the local comprehensive and they experience school life for the first time. Prue had never thought it would be so bitchy and that she'd find it so hard to fit in. The only person she can talk to is her kindly, young, handsome Art teacher, Rax. She and Rax bond over art lessons, and soon he asks to babysit for his young children while he and his wife have a night out on a Friday. This becomes a regular 'date' and Prue can't wait for the ten minutes they have along together as he drives her home. As her feelings for Rax develop, she begins to realise that perhaps he feels the same way about her. But he can't act upon them, can he? An absorbing portrait of a forbidden relationship for teenage readers from the mega bestselling Jacqueline Wilson.
Home educationThe available evidence does not establish the book's treatment of this theme. See Confidence & Basis for the evidence gap.Strict parentingThe available evidence does not establish the book's treatment of this theme. See Confidence & Basis for the evidence gap.IndependenceThe available evidence does not establish the book's treatment of this theme. See Confidence & Basis for the evidence gap.
Consider
Relationships and intimacyFamily disruptionSocial conflict
Personalised Fit
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home educationstrict parentingindependencefamily authorityfitting inteasingfriendshipschool transitionromantic feelingsadult responsibilitysecrecyboundaries
FictionNovel
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Themes in Context
Freedom and parental control
Prue and Grace have been educated at home by a controlling father; after his stroke, their mother sends them to school and later supports their continuing attendance despite his anger.MixedMixed: the book presents both supportive and critical signals.Mixed: the book presents both supportive and critical signals.
How the book presents it: The story presents the girls’ new freedom as significant while also showing family dependence, fear and disruption. It may invite consideration of when protection becomes control.
Talk about: How does the family respond when Prue and Grace begin making choices beyond their father’s rules?
School belonging and social conflict
Prue enters a comprehensive school for the first time, struggles socially, is ridiculed, and becomes involved in conflict surrounding Toby and Rita; she later has difficulty finding someone to talk to.MixedMixed: the book presents both supportive and critical signals.Mixed: the book presents both supportive and critical signals.
How the book presents it: School is shown as a place of both exclusion and possible connection, including Prue’s friendship with Toby and her bond with an art teacher.
Talk about: What helps Prue feel less isolated, and which relationships make her situation more complicated?
An unequal teacher–pupil relationship
Prue develops feelings for her married art teacher, babysits his children and interprets his behaviour as possibly reciprocating. The plot account includes secrecy, kissing and his attempts to create distance.AmbiguousAmbiguous: the book leaves its position open to more than one reasonable reading.Ambiguous: the book leaves its position open to more than one reasonable reading.
How the book presents it: The relationship is presented through Prue’s intense feelings but also includes clear imbalance: Rax is an adult teacher, husband and parent. His actions create serious boundary questions rather than a simple romance.
Talk about: Does the story ultimately treat Rax’s choices as responsible, harmful, conflicted or something else?
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Why It May Be Worth Reading
It may prompt thoughtful discussion about power, responsibility and boundaries when affection develops between people with very unequal roles. It also explores how isolation, family control and social exclusion can shape someone’s choices.
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What Deserves Attention
Be ready for family illness and loss of independence, controlling parenting, school ridicule, romantic and physical intimacy involving a teenager and an adult teacher, dishonesty, and a physical fight.
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A Conversation Worth Having
How does the story distinguish Prue’s feelings from Rax’s adult responsibility, and what does it suggest about secrecy, consent and professional boundaries when affection is not equal?
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Reading Approach
Consider reading alongside the teenager, especially around the teacher–pupil relationship and family control. Pause to ask what each character can responsibly choose, without treating Prue’s feelings as blameworthy.
Confidence & Basis
Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.
What remains unconfirmed
Freedom and parental control: The supplied plot accounts do not fully establish the father’s motivations, the family’s longer-term resolution, or how the story ultimately evaluates home education.
School belonging and social conflict: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
An unequal teacher–pupil relationship: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Book information
Limited information
Relevant to: Freedom and parental control; An unequal teacher–pupil relationship
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