The big tidy up norah smaridge6/21/2023 They are also all students at Streep Academy, a boarding school just one step away from juvie, where they've come to complete high school. God help them.How far would you go to escape your own personal teenage hell? Would you run away, break away from everything you know-even your own body? Alex Robbins, Brooke Saunders and Maryanne Hemlock could not be more different, yet they all have something in common-deep and soul-searing pain. And after reading her diary, the girls learn to leave their bodies too. But a dark part of Connie found a way out. In the attic of their residence, they find the diary of young Connie Harvell who was confined there decades ago. They are all students at Streep Academy, a boarding school just a step away from juvie. They have absolutely nothing in common.But can a smooth-talking Irishman sway a hard-hearted cynic to believe in love again?Īlex, Brooke & Maryanne are very different, yet each is suffering. Her values are a world apart from Finn’s. They've struck sparks off each other in the courtroom, and he's burning to do the same in the bedroom.Finn Ahearn’s Irish luck runs out when he travels half way around the world to Sydney.The seedier side of the city’s Kings Cross soon catches up with him and he finds the only way he can get back on stable footing is to accept a bartending job, working for tough Aussie bar owner Ellie Finch.Ellie is a decade older than Finn but that doesn’t stop the charming Irishman from wooing her.Ellie doesn’t believe in the happily-ever-after dream any longer, not since hers imploded a long time ago. John Quigley learns of it, he's determined to protect her, no matter who is harassing her. Now she's being stalked, but she won’t turn to the police, who may be behind it. I got my copy of The Big Tidy Up from my bookshelf.There's no love lost between criminal defense lawyer Suzannah Phelps and the Fredericdton police department. And I don’t even know if changing the genders of either the parent and / or the child in this story would fix that feeling. But the way that Jennifer is turned from a messy, active, jean-wearing girl into a tidy, dress-wearing girl who waits patiently on the end of her bed just doesn’t sit well with the adult me. Yes, it’s important for children to know that they have the security of being loved and accepted in their homes, and that there comes some responsibility with being a member of a family. I’m also quite torn about the themes of the book. I think if the style was more consistent, with all objects being more stylised, the illustrations would probably work better for a modern audience. They are sort of an odd mix of stylised people, and accurate and detailed objects. I do wonder about the illustrations though. I think the humour, rhythm and rhyme of the book still work today. I also remember being extremely disappointed when Jennifer gave up her life of scruffiness and turned into the neat little girl her mother wanted her to – the first half of the book was always my favourite! And who could resist those endpapers?! And I can still remember the first page verbatim (as can both parents!), even though I have read this book only five or six times in the last 30 years. The story is told with rhythm and rhyme, which is why it makes such a great read-aloud. There is also a humour in the illustrations that matches that of the text. Jennifer lived in squalor and was quite happy to do that even after she had been told off by her mother – who doesn’t love a rebel? I also loved the illustrations, despite never having been a fan of the colour pink I liked the bright colours, the chaos of Jennifer’s bedroom, and finding where the cat was hidden amongst her mess. It’s physical condition today shows that it was obviously in the “high rotate” pile despite being mended several times, the pages are no longer attached to the cover.įrom memory, the main reason I loved this book was that Jennifer, the protagonist, was not your stereotypical, neat little girl (probably why George was my favourite character in the Famous Five too!). I loved this book as a child, especially if one of my parents was reading it to me.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |