SuitabookThe Suitcase Kid
Jacqueline Wilson
- Reading
- If family change is close to home, read alongside the child rather than assuming the story matches their experience. Pause after major household changes and let them decide what to discuss.
- Themes
- Living between separated parents: Andy moves between her mother’s and father’s homes while wishing for her parents to be one family again. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- New partners and step-siblings: Both parents have new partners, and Andy must navigate five step-siblings, including difficult relationships and different conditions in each home. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Comfort and attachment: Andy carries Radish, her toy rabbit, for comfort, and the plot reaches a crisis when she loses the rabbit in a garden. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Worth knowing
- Pay attention to Andy’s changing feelings towards both homes, the adults’ quarrelling and the different treatment she receives. The family tensions may feel recognisable or upsetting for readers with similar experiences.