Poppy's Hero

by Rachel Billington

When Poppy discovers that her father Frank is in prison, she is angry and bewildered. Seeing her wonderful, heroic father in a London prison looking pale, subdued and in prison clothes, she suddenly has a brilliant idea: to free her father. She and her friend Will invent all kinds of escape ideas for him — until she hears that he has been removed to a prison far away on an island, with five years to serve. But when the prison decides to stage a musical using professionals and prisoners, Frank is picked for the lead role. It is then that the questions begin . . .

The story of a feisty girl, and how she deals with the pain of her dad's downfall, has much to say about the harsh realities faced by the unlucky children of prisoners.

Genres: Childrens

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Rachel Billington has written twenty one novels and eleven books for children. She is also a journalist, feature writer and reviewer. She is a regular contributor and Associate Editor of Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners and a Vice-President of English PEN. In 2012 she was awarded an OBE for Services to Literature.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poppy’s Hero is a children’s book about a girl who is dealing with her father being put in prison. Overall, I thought it was a fairly well written book. Poppy has a hard time dealing with it in the beginning, but later on her friends seem supportive. They hatch a plan to help her dad escape prison because Poppy believes he is innocent. I thought that it made sense that Poppy was trying to get her dad out of prison because it was her way of coping, however, adults in the book, and other men in prison, were saying that they would help, which I thought was unrealistic.

Another thing that confused me a bit was trying to figure out what age group this book was written for. Poppy’s oldest friend in the book was eleven and it seemed as if she was at least a year or two younger. Children don’t generally like reading books about characters younger than themselves; however, I’m not sure a younger child would be interested either.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Read. I was not required to write a review and this review contains my honest opinion.

[Poppy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poppy's Hero is about a child who discovers something shocking about a person she has always idolised and how it can change not just your relationship with that person but your relationships with other people too. It doesn't go as deeply into the situation as an adult book would have done as it focuses on what a child is likely to know and feel, but it's an interesting and moving book with strongly-defined characters.

[Nicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit longwinded, not much happens in the plot and the ending is a bit too abrupt. But comes to a satisfactory conclusion. Written well, good characterisation.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a okay short read about childs view of her father being in prison

[Law · Rating 1 out of 5]

Representation: N/A
Trigger warnings: Imprisonment of a father
Score: Four out of ten.
I own this book.

I can't give Poppy's Hero by Rachel Billington two stars. One star will do.

This novel was part of a library giveaway since it was too old, few people read it, or both. Initially, it looked promising, so I got it and left it until I ran out of reading material. That is until I checked the ratings and reviews, and according to them, it looked like I would be disappointed. I picked it up and read it, and that sentiment happened. It could've been much better, but it underwhelmed me instead. It's not clear whether the author's other fictional works are better than Poppy's Hero. Maybe?

It starts with the first character I see, Poppy (which explains the title), whose last name I forgot living as a child of a Polish immigrant in England. Here's the central point: Poppy's father is in prison. Why? I don't know; the book never explained it to me. The tension builds as Poppy, alongside another character, Angel, devise a plan to break Poppy's father out of prison, but only a few pages in, it was unsuccessful. Here's where the flaws surface: like other works of fiction, the characters aren't relatable nor can I connect to them. I couldn't feel anything for them. The first half is where Poppy's Hero shines, since it has some action involving the prison break, but the second half had nothing much happening. I'm sure I'm not the target audience, so perhaps a younger reader would enjoy this one. Did I mention the cover is dated, and so is the content inside? I should expect that from now with all early 2010s novels.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book for free from the Goodread's First Reads giveaway.

Poppy's Hero is the author's fifth childrens novel. From an adults point of view I would of rated the book 3 out of 5, but trying to judge from a childs perspective I would think 4 out of 5.
The audience the story is directed for is child to preteen, maybe even teenagers.
I thought the whole story was really good. I felt bad for all the characters in the book that were affected by Big Frank going to jail. Since his crime in the book was based solely on drugs you are able to feel sorry for him (obviously if he was a murderer I wouldn't feel bad for him at all). The author gave each child in the book a very unique and different personality.
I would recommend this novel to children ages 14 and under. I am very happy I won this book and was able to read something different.

[Aisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in the First Reads giveaway on Goodreads.

And I am so glad I did. This is a novel about a girl whose father ends up in prison. Poppy is obviously a daddy's girl and is heartbroken that her hero is behind bars. I really enjoyed this novel because it was very real. The way Billington describes prisons, prisoners, and the affect it has on their families is really realistic. And the emotions in the book were just so accurate. This shows how the other side to prisoners, as opposed to just being thought of as "bad people".
Lastly, this book was written in such a way that I didn't feel that I was reading a children's book.
Surprisingly, this is a great book!

[Lacey Louwagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book addresses an important, yet underexamined, issue -- namely, what happens to a child when her parent is incarcerated. Characterization was well-done, particularly in Poppy's parents (her Polish mother Irena and her gregarious father, Frank) and her friend Angel, a "veteran" of the experience of living with incarcerated parents. The book's ability to humanize the whole prison experience -- from a child's desire for her parent to be innocent to her fear over being searched down and subjugated to the same suspicion as adults visiting the prison -- is its most valuable contribution.

[Lil Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poppy is struggling to be a school girl while dealing with a rough family situation. The man she's always considered her hero is sent away to prision, and Poppy must let her friends find new joys in life. Touching story and gives the reader a look into a station of life that is not thought about often.

[Tango Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poppy's Hero is a great book. Poor Poppy finds out that her father has gone to prison, and she is left at home with her mum who seems to be quite moody and difficult to live with. Poppy discovers she has a friend who can help her and together they spearhead an investigation into the whole mess. Great teen reading!

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never finished wasn't intriguing enough

[Sian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thought this book was rubbish. It is very badly written and it is confusing trying to understand what age it is aimed at. It seemed patronising...