Reasons to read my book, numbers 1 to 9 1. It's about three girls in Year Nine 2. You can learn all sorts of secrets about me (I'm Ellie) 3. Ditto my best friend Nadine 4. Ditto my equally best friend Magda 5. You can see if your nine all-time heroes/heroines match up with mine 6. You can squirm at my most embarrassing moments 7. You can have lots of laughs (mostly at me!) 8. You might even cry a bit, too 9. PLUS, you get to find out a lot more about BOYS! The first in Jacqueline Wilson's mega-best-selling Girls series for teenagers. Now with a new introduction! 'Delightful' Observer FOR TEENAGE READERS
This is the first in a series of books about teenage girls from award-winning author Jacqueline Wilson. Ellie, Nadine and Magda are best friends. They are in Year Nine, and their lives are dominated by boys.
JACQUELINE WILSON is an extremely well-known and hugely popular author. THE ILLUSTRATED MUM was chosen as British Children's Book of the Year in 1999 and was winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Award 2000. Jacqueline has won the prestigious Smarties Prize and the Children's Book Award for DOUBLE ACT, which was also highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. Jacqueline was awarded an OBE in 2002. * 'A brilliant young writer of wit and subtlety' THE TIMES * 'Hugely popular with seven to ten year olds: she should be prescribed for all cases of reading reluctance' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY * 'Has a rare gift for writing lightly and amusingly about emtional issues' BOOKSELLER
One Girl The first day back at school. I'm walking because I missed the bus. Not a good start. Year Nine. I wonder what it'll be like. Number nine, number nine, number nine . . . It's on that classic Beatles White Album, the crazy mixed-up bit at the end. I've always felt close to John Lennon even though he died before I was born. I like him because he did all those crazy little drawings and he wore granny glasses and he was funny and he always just did his own thing. I do crazy little drawings and I wear granny glasses and my friends think I'm funny. I don't get the opportunity to do my own thing, though. It's half past eight. If I was doing my own thing right now I'd be back in bed, curled up, fast asleep. John Lennon had lie-ins, didn't he, when he and Yoko stayed in bed all day. They even gave interviews to journalists in bed. Cool. So, if I could do my own thing I'd sleep till midday. Then breakfast. Hot chocolate and doughnuts. I'd listen to music and fool around in my sketchbook. Maybe watch a video. Then I'd eat again. I'd send out for a pizza. Though maybe I should stick to salads. I guess it would be easy to put on weight lying around in bed all day. I don't want to end up looking like a beached whale. I'll have a green salad. And green grapes. And what's a green drink? There's that liqueur I sipped round at Magda's, creme de menthe. I can't say I was that thrilled. It was a bit like drinking toothpaste. Forget the drink. I'll phone Magda, though, and Nadine, and we'll have a long natter. And then . . . Well, it'll be the evening now, so I'll have a bath and wash my hair and change into . . . What should I wear in bed? Not my own teddy-bear nightie. Much too babyish. But I don't fancy one of those slinky satin numbers. I know, I'll wear a long white gown with embroidered roses all colors of the rainbow, and I'll put a big flash ring on every finger and lie flat in my bed like Frida Kahlo. She's another one of my heroes, this amazing Mexican artist with extraordinary eyebrows and earrings and flowers in her hair. OK, there I am, back in bed and looking beautiful. Then I hear the door opening. Footsteps. It's my boyfriend coming to see me. . . . The only trouble is I haven't got a boyfriend. Well, I haven't got a Frida Kahlo outfit or a bedside phone or my own television and video and my bed sags because my little brother, Eggs, uses it as a trampoline whenever I'm not around. I could put up with all these deprivations. I'd just like a boyfriend. Please. Just as I'm thinking this a beautiful blond boy with big brown eyes comes sauntering round a car parked partly on the pavement. He steps to one side to get out of my way, only I've stepped the same way. He steps to the other side. So do I! We look like we're doing a crazy kind of two-step. "Oh. Whoops. S-sorry!" I stammer. I feel my face flooding scarlet. He stays cool, one eyebrow slightly raised. He doesn't say anything but he smiles at me. He smiles at me! Then he walks neatly past while I dither, still in a daze. I look back over my shoulder. He's looking back at me. He really is. Maybe . . . maybe he likes me. No, that's mad. Why should this really incredible guy who must be at least eighteen think anything of a stupid schoolgirl who can't even walk past him properly? He's not looking up. He's looking down. He's looking at my legs! Oh, God, maybe my skirt really is too short. I turned it up myself last night. Anna said she'd shorten it for me, but I knew she'd only turn it up a centimeter or so. I wanted my skirt really short. Only I'm not that great at sewing. The hem went a bit bunchy. When I tried the skirt back on there suddenly seemed a very large amount of chubby pink leg on show. Anna didn't say anything but I knew what she was thinking. Dad was more direct: "For God's sake, Ellie, that skirt barely covers your
REASONS TO READ MY BOOK, NUMBERS 1 TO 9 1. It's about three girls in Year Nine 2. You can learn all sorts of secrets about me (I'm Ellie) 3. Ditto my best friend Nadine 4. Ditto my equally best friend Magda 5. You can see if your nine all-time heros/heroines match up with mine 6. You can squirm at my most embarrassing moments 7. You can have lots of laughs (mostly at me!) 8. You might even cry a bit, too 9. PLUS, you get to find out a lot more about BOYS!
The first of Jacqueline Wilson's mega-bestselling Girls series, now with a brand new cover look.