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Maggie #1

by Joan Lingard

Maggie from Glasgow is dreading a summer in a remote Scottish glen until she reluctantly makes friends with the wholesome Fraser family.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Scotland, Fiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Joan Lingard was born in Edinburgh, in the Old Town, but grew up in Belfast where she lived until she was 18. She attended Strandtown Primary and then got a scholarship into Bloomfied Collegiate. She has three daughters and five grandchildren, and now lives in Edinburgh with her Canadian husband.

Lingard has written novels for both adults and children. She is probably most famous for the teenage-aimed Kevin and Sadie series, which have sold over one million copies and have been reprinted many times since.

Her first novel Liam's Daughter was an adult-orientated novel published in 1963. Her first children's novel was The Twelfth Day of July (the first of the five Kevin and Sadie books) in 1970.

Lingard received the prestigious West German award the "Buxtehuder Bulle" in 1986 for Across the Barricades. Tug of War has also received great success: shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 1989, The Federation of Children's Book Group Award 1989, runner up in the Lancashire Children's Book Club of the year 1990 and shortlisted for the Sheffield Book Award. In 1998, her book Tom and the Tree House won the Scottish Arts Council Children's Book Award. Her most recent novel, What to Do About Holly was released in August 2009.

Lingard was awarded an MBE in 1998 for services to children's literature.

Reviews

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot better than I thought I would. From the blurb I assumed it was going to be an angsty teen coming-of-age tale with a sickening romance. It wasn't quite that. Granted, Maggie is 17 but her feelings of resentment mixed with loyal admiration and acceptance of her family- Mum, Dad, siblings and Gran are all pretty realistic, especially when it unfolds that they are relatively poor working class people and she is an academic high achiever and aspirational with it.

Visiting her gran in the secluded countryside she has few options and is pretty much forced to befriend the middle-class Fraser family who seem too perfect to be true and she can plainly see are horrible snobs with a twist of privileged hippy. While resentful to be stuck out there, she manages to bond with her gran (another Margaret) and listen to her stories of her own Granny (also a Margaret) so that generations of brave, wilful, opinionated Margarets are set up albeit in a historically believable sense so that their fate is marriage and domesticity (and hence the next generations). Over the book the three Margarets are connected well by a series of themes and a token (and the cutesy-pie detail that all marry Jameses apart from possibly the curent Maggie who wants to spend time with her James but isn't so sure about marriage and children.

Her ambivalence to her budding romance was one thing I enjoyed in the book- the complexity of her female relationships (none of them easy) that unfolded over the book was another. Even though there are no "bad guys" in the books people's differences and misunderstandings as well as quirks in their personality leave room for plenty of conflict, which is handled well. The frustrations of the people we love are well portrayed.

I felt that Maggie's story was not finished (now that I have done a search it appears I was right thought looks like her story might become more of a conventional romance in the other books). This was a much better YA book than most I have read, and I didn't think the issues in it were out of date (maybe I am showing my age with that comment).

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent coming of age novel; Glasgow girl goes to spend summer with her Granny in the highlands. Meets people from Edinburgh and lays a new foundation for her life....and Granny's. Thanks CLM!

[Helena Sancha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining and easy to read. I enjoyed the plot as much as the descriptive writing of this book. :)

[Maria Elmvang · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about a teenager who goes to spend the summer in the Highlands together with her old grandmother. Quite enjoyable and a quick read.

[Jeni]

i read this series at skool, so when i saw it on Amazon, i just had 2 buy them + am goin 2 reread them when i get a moment, along with the other 3 million

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book in the Maggie series by Joan Lingard for YA. I didn't read these when I was young but do remember watching the tv series in the very early 80s but dont remember a thing about it. The book was ok. Just a fairly simple story about Maggie going to spend the summer with her granny in the Scottish highlands. She falls in with the family holidaying opposite, in particular the son James. Tragedy strikes and everything changes. Look forward to reading the rest of the series. Very quick read at less than 150 pages.

[Lorna Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The memories!! I felt like I was back at school during an English lesson. Still enjoyed the book as much as I did when I was a teenager.

[Arushi Bhaskar · Rating 3 out of 5]

So warm and fun!

[Karinomsnoms · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gosh! It's booooring