Queenie

by Jacqueline Wilson, Nick Sharratt (Illustrator)

BOOKS

Genres: Childrens, Historical, Middle Grade, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Animals

420 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2013

About the author

Jacqueline Wilson was born in Bath in 1945, but spent most of her childhood in Kingston-on-Thames. She always wanted to be a writer and wrote her first ‘novel’ when she was nine, filling in countless Woolworths’ exercise books as she grew up. As a teenager she started work for a magazine publishing company and then went on to work as a journalist on Jackie magazine (which she was told was named after her!) before turning to writing novels full-time.

One of Jacqueline’s most successful and enduring creations has been the famous Tracy Beaker, who first appeared in 1991 in The Story of Tracy Beaker. This was also the first of her books to be illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Since then Jacqueline has been on countless awards shortlists and has gone on to win many awards. The Illustrated Mum won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award, the 1999 Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and was also shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Children’s Book Award.

Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award.

Jacqueline is one of the nation’s favourite authors, and her books are loved and cherished by young readers not only in the UK but all over the world. She has sold millions of books and in the UK alone the total now stands at over 35 million!

In 2002 Jacqueline was awarded the OBE for services to literacy in schools and from 2005 to 2007 she was the Children’s Laureate. In 2008 she became Dame Jacqueline Wilson.

Reviews

[Masilee · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG Queenie is just so amazing! i think it is the best book Jacqueline Wilson has ever written. To be honest it is quite sad and depressing but i dont want to give it away to much! I recommend this book because it really is awesome please read it!!!

[Johara Almogbel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The secondary characters made this book for me, much more than the main character. Elsie was well-written but she grated on my nerves sometimes. I think there's a limit to the number of Jacqueline Wilson books you can read and still enjoy the imaginative strong-willed girls she writes in, and after a while some of them become more selfish and annoying than whimsical.

Still, though, I'd recommend this for a read, it has a heartfelt storyline that's gripping.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review courtesy of Eva aged 9.

Queenie is a heartwarming tale about Elsie Kettle, a girl in 1953, who desperately wants to see the Queen's Coronation. She lives with her Nan in a little but cosy basement flat. When her Nan gets very poorly, Elsie's life is turned upside down. Her Mum comes to look after her but when Elsie gets ill, she is taken away from everything she ever knew. Now she will have to make new friends and this leads to a friendship with a majestic white cat called Queenie but will Ever ever be reunited with her Nan?

This is one of Jacqueline Wilson's historical novels which I especially enjoy. It has a twist in the tale and will keep you gripped until the last page.

[Isobelle Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was VERY intresting as both the main character and her nan both got an illness but Elsie (the main character) got the illness in her knee so she was limping however her nan got it into her lungs but thankfully got better. They even got a snow white kitten at the end! 🤗

[emily kovacevic · Rating 5 out of 5]

the first book that made me cry

okay so I am back to say that I literally think about this book once a month so I blame jackie wilson for why I am mentally ill

[Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my 姑姑's birthday gift to me, and it is one of the reasons why I am the way I am. Elsie's stories are pure visions of girlie escapism and I love them.

(I still have no clue what exactly the characters mean by 'women's troubles', but it gets me a damn good giggle whenever I bring it up to my teachers.)

[Chloe Sellers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this while in hospital because I knew the main character was in hospital too, it helped me so much. Would recommend

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite Jacqueline Wilson, a masterpiece.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently, I had a itching need to buy and read Jacqueline Wilson books—something I hadn’t done in years and years—as she was my favourite author when I was younger, with her stories meaning so much to me.

I indulged in some old favourites that had long been given away, and then decided to pick up some newer ones which sounded interesting.

So, this is where the review for Queenie begins!

So, Queenie is one of Wilson’s historical fiction’s: something that she truly shines in (which is reflected by how many she’s brought out in the last decade!).

We are transported to England in the 1950’s, only a few short months before Queen Elizabeth’s II coronation.

Our main character, Elsie Kettle lives with her Nan as her Mum is constantly away working on the stage. Elsie and her Nan are extremely close, and they plan to travel to London for the coronation together.

However, these plans are dashed when her Nan falls ill with TB and ends up in a sanatorium. When Elsie and her Mum are tested, it is discovered that Elise has TB of the knee, and she needs treatment as well.

Elsie is taken to a specialist hospital in the countryside with other children with joint problems, some as a result of TB as well.

She is lonely there and struggles to make friends, but there is someone she truly cares about… Queenie, the ward’s cat!

I did enjoy this book. However, I know that I am not the target audience.

I also know that I would have enjoyed this a lot more when I was maybe ten or so.

This book is far too simple for my liking. The beginning was the strongest part, getting to see Elsie’s bond with her Nan, and learn about how TB affected both adults and children in the 50’s, as this was something I didn’t know a lot about.

However, when Elsie got to the hospital, that was when my interest dropped. I loved Queenie the cat—so adorable!—but I was not fussed on any of the other children on the ward.

It was disappointing that Elsie didn’t make any true friends there, I feel that would have added some much needed development.

It did get very repetitive, and I know this was because she was bed-ridden, but I think Wilson could have really made it more engaging.

I struggled to connect to Elsie as a character. For one thing, I don’t think we are told how old she is. This was an issue for me, because at times she acted very young, and at some points acted as if she was ten/eleven years old.

She was very inconsistent: sometimes she was bold, sometimes she was meek, or rude, or selfish, or selfless… I feel like Wilson wasn’t entirely sure who her character was, and made a mis-mash of her depending on the situation. I didn’t feel like I truly knew Elsie.

Even though the book was made out to be about the coronation/Queenie the cat, it did feel at some points that they were side-lined for more repetitive plots. I’m not too sure how I feel about the Queen turning up at the hospital either.

Her Mum was, in my opinion unredeemable for running off to Canada with her boss/boyfriend and leaving Elsie to go to foster care (after saying earlier in the book she wouldn’t want that to happen again, as it’s mentioned this was the case when Elsie was very little).

She didn’t seem to care very much about either her Mum’s health, or Elsie’s. I know not all characters are good, but we didn’t get any sort of glimpse at her motivations or feelings to back these terrible things up.

I am so glad there was an afterword in the book of what happened later in Elsie’s life, of how she got to live with her Nan again.

I would have definitely rated the book lower if these couple of pages weren’t included, as leaving off with Elsie just seeing her Nan again wouldn’t be as satisfying.

The last few pages were truly emotional and truly Jacqueline Wilson magic, which is why I was confident to give this three stars.

[Writingthefuture · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing. One of the best books Jackie's ever written (after the hetty feather trilogy). It was so touching and I almost cried at the end (that's only ever happened before when I read the 6th and7th harry potter) - I mean, call me soft, but it was truly so heartfelt and personal (are they the right words?!). I feel so close to Elsie and Queenie now and the afterword at the end was so beautiful. I definitely recommend.

[~ Elsie~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute super duper Dooper Dooper Dooper book I read it over 1 million times okay I might be exaggerating there but is such a good book honestly you should read it cause it’s all about a cat and a girl called Elsie and yeah

[Reetta Saine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voi kun meillä olisi enemmän tällaisia ongelma-kirjailijoita, jotka kirjoittaa kuitenkin lämmöllä ja rohkeudella. Onneksi on muutama!

Tuberkuloosi 1950-luvun Briteissä - isoäiti sairastuu keuhkotautiin, kyseenalaisen maineen omaava äiti palaa show-kiertueelta vastentahtoisesti kotiin, mutta saa vankilasta-vapaaksi-kortin, kun myös tytär sairastuu tuberkuloosiin ja joutuu sairaalaan useaksi kuukaudeksi. Sairaala on tyly, lämmin, valtataisteluja ja monipuolisia ihmissuhteita täynnä oleva paikka, jossa hoitajat ja eri-ikäiset lapset elävät pakotettuina pienenpientä elämää maailman pyöriessä ympärillä. Äidin itsekkyys hyytää, samoin monen aikuisen käytös. Lapset osaavat olla myös julmia, mutta onneksi on kuningattaren kruunajaiset ja kissat!

Pieni aidosti naurattava vitsi Charlesin tulevista kruunajaisistakin oli ujutettu mukaan :D.

[Yasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Genevieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was way more full on than I remember lmao but I needed a Jacqueline wilson fix

[Sapna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a heartwarming and touching book.

Book number 10 of my 2021 pledge! Yes, guys and dolls for the first time in history I have fulfilled my Goodreads pledge, after a number of flop shows!!!!

Okay, so Elsie Kettle is a young girl who lives with her Nan. Nan and Elsie are hoping to go to see the Queen's coronation and Nan is saving up for that. Her Nan collapses at work and it is found that she has pulmonary tuberculosis and so Nan is sent off to a sanatorium to recover. Elsie's Mum is a showgirl and so is not at home all the time; however, she comes to live with Elsie when her Nan is sent to recover. Elsie has a limp and it is found out she has bovine tuberculosis which comes from milk; however, Elsie, her Nan and her Mum think that Elsie got the germs from Nan, which distresses Elsie and her Nan terribly. However, when Elsie is sent to a Children's Hospital it is found out that bovine tuberculosis comes from milk; however, Mum disputes this. Elsie initially struggles with the harsh rules of the Children's Hospital and finds it difficult to relate to the other patients; however, later on she befriends the people there especially a nurse called Nurse Gabriel and a white cat called Queenie. Elsie's Mum finds a job doing secretarial work for Perkins Pens and her married and with children Boss becomes her latest boyfriend. Elsie regales all the people at the Children's Hospital with her lively and imaginative stories. The real Queen comes to visit the Children's Ward and Elsie talks with her for some time. The children slowly start getting well and going home. Elsie's Mum abandons her to go to Canada with her married boyfriend. When Elsie's time to go home arrives, she sadly has to go to a Children's Home, which terrifies her but it isn't as bad as she thought it would be. Nan recovers and they occupy a new council flat because Mum had let their old flat go. Mum comes back from Canada in a bad state and becomes a showgirl again. Elsie adopts Queenie's kitten and names her Princess. The ending is very touching with how Elsie tells how her Nan died but how Elsie is now strong enough to look after herself.

A really lovely book, which is readable by adults also. I liked the descriptive nature of how the author described Elsie's and Nan's illness and life in the Children's Hospital and also the references to the British Royal Family. A cute and touching book.

***** 5 stars.

[Ursula · Rating 1 out of 5]

when I first heard of this book I thought it was going to be really good, it sounded different from her other books and really interesting. I couldn't have been more wrong. In my opinion it was really boring and so over rated. things like this just seem so random and stupid...no offence. Also it was the same sort of thing: Girl loves nan or aunty or whatever more because mum is always with lots of men and there is no father, so many of JW's books follow this pattern, sometimes it works other times it really doesn't.

[Koni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book and all, and I understand why it's people's favorite JW books, but this one isn't mine.
One of the reasons is the thing I don't really like isn't really about the book, but instead it's the blurb. People who have READ Queenie, take a look and see what I mean. To many spoilers! Not the one on the back, but the one on the first page.
Another reason is that it's to many fantasies. Yes, I know, the books are for kids, but it's pretty annoying.
Of course, there are lots of pros. I love the prolouge.

[Madeleine Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book for the first half, but the ending felt SO rushed. It felt like Jacqueline Wilson was bored by the end and wanted it over and done with quickly. I don’t like the fact that Elsie never heard from Martin and Angus again, and their friendships abruptly ended as soon as they left the hospital. The whole “Mr Perkins” thing felt pointless and the “Afterword” also felt rushed. It would have been nicer had Elsie just hugged her Nan in the hospital at the end and then we could leave the happy ending to our own imagination.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a quick and fun, easy read, very enjoyable for 8-12 year olds and it was easy to get gripped with the whole story and relate to how she was feeling. Jacqueline Wilson really can get any story to be fun an interesting even if it is the saddest of stories. She did a good job and i hope you will check it out from amazon or your local bookstore.

my full review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS12LG...

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really did like this book but the main focal point of let down for me, was the fact that at quite a lot of events in the book I really did not like Elsie (the main character). Still, there's not a lot you can find wrong with Jacqueline Wilson books. Overall an enjoyably experience in the world of reading, aaaand I'd happily recommend it to fiends and family! :)

[Phil Larby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely AMAZING

This is easily Jacqueline Wilson's best book ever. There was nothing about the story I disliked and it really sounded like it was written in 1953 I'd recommend this to all my friends

By Hazel, Phil's daughter

[Beau · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG queenside is a star xx

[deena · Rating 2 out of 5]

i remember crying after i finished this back in 6th grade, this book will always hold a special place in my heart (i think i’ve reread it 10 times already!) <3

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, touching book! One of the things I liked most about 'Queenie' when I was younger is the detailed description, particularly the stories Elsie tells to the other children in hospital, based on Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree. And, just as it did then, the book swept me in and I could scarcely put it down.
As always, Jacqueline has a knack for incorporating some dark, heartfelt themes into kid's literature.

This book is set in 1953 and it tells the story of Elsie Kettle, who lives with her dear nan in a council flat. She has no dad and her promiscuous mum is nearly always working faraway, but Elsie doesn't mind because she loves her nan much more. One day her nan falls ill with tuberculosis and is taken away to hospital, and Elsie has to grow used to her mum being around again. But then Elsie develops TB too, and before long she is in hospital herself, strapped up with a leg splint. Will she ever see her nan again... and what will be of their long-anticipated trip to see the Queen's Coronation together?

This book is a great read for kids due to the amount of description and easy writing there is, though it is quite lengthy for a child (410 pages). For me, however, the pages just whizzed by and I didn't find a single bit boring - of course I wouldn't, it's Jacqueline Wilson I'm talking about!
I definitely think bits of Jacky's own childhood was incorporated into this book, because having read her life story to pieces some parts did feel familiar. The 1950s fashion, food and customs was explored and it was interesting to see how things have changed in the 21st-century!

I felt sorry for Elsie - her mum not visiting her for weeks, months on end and choosing yet another new boyfriend over her own daughter and mother, not to mention being taken away from her nan and not being able to see the Coronation together. I'm glad it wasn't a sad ending.

Recommended for: ages 9+. Sickness, hospitals, negligent mum.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

engaging and charming to read, though the incomprehension of her mum made me a bit frustrated I won't lie. there were also some sections with slightly racist or fatphobic undertones, though this book was published in the early 2010s and is set in the 1950s, and the sort of stuff it was was still quite socially accepted-- it also makes me realise just how far we've generally come on in 10 years between my first read of this and this time's read. the attitudes towards disability were interesting to read also, and i notice now as an older teen than tween me reading this how different my attitudes are/that I'd absorbed a lot of the negative narratives around physical disability at that age. the majority of the book is also her lying in a hospital bed, but it was interesting and the various secondary characters were captivating too. overall I personally found this kind of middling-- an interesting historical setting, and classically jacqueline wilson.

[Adam Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

My youngest is always begging me to read more of her recommendations, and while I try to comply - and often read at least one a month - she's never satisfied. As a result, she's taken to reading them to me at every opportunity.

Today she's reading me Queenie - her new favourite Jacqueline Wilson - and, is often the case with Wilson, it's full of uncomfortable social situations, complicated family setups and less than amiable adults ...no wonder her work has got such a following, with young readers desperate for authentic stories, outside of idealised 2.4 conventions.

Anyone looking for splendid stories for children aged between 8-13 should investigate The Illustrated Mum, Lola Rose, The Story of Tracy Beaker, Midnight and Queenie.

[BookLoverLily · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does TB stand for?
Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious illness that mainly affects the lungs. The germs that cause tuberculosis are a type of bacteria. Tuberculosis can spread when a person with the illness coughs or sneezes.

I didn’t know what TB is before. I searched it up. The definition of TB is the sentences above this. 🔝 ⬆️ This story was heart warming in every way.

It is about a girl aged 9 called Elsie Kettle. She lives with her Nan as her mother is job is very busy. She loves her Nan the most in the WORLD WIDE WORLD. Their house is very poor, so Nan has many jobs. Elsie sleeps in a couch either eiderdown and a pillow, in a little box room. She doesn’t mind at all, as long as she stays either her Nan. But then Nan starts to cough. Then gets worse. What will she do?

[Bobbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite comfort reads as a child! The beginning does a great job of introducing Elsie as an imaginative, lonely young girl that adores her nan and has a complicated relationship with her mother. The writing is straightforward, as is the plot, and effectively captures the mind of a 9-year-old.

The majority of the story takes place in the children's ward, with Elsie bed-bound. There is no grand, exciting adventure. All of the 'action' lies in her using her imagination; making up conversations with Queenie, the ward's cat, or weaving tales for the fellow patients to distract from the bleak hospital atmosphere and monotony of each day. At over 400 pages these passages get a little repetitive, but with spiteful nurses and a neglectful mother there is plenty of character conflict to keep things moving. The Queen's visit and the epilogue felt a little too cheesy for my taste, but overall this is a cute, heartwarming story.

[Amelia Kumeyko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book!

So, these are one of the books that I absolutely love! Jacqueline is such a good author! This book is about a girl called Elsie with a life full of lots of cliffhangers and twists. This book made me buy-in loads but it also warned my heart and Jacqueline is such a good author that I feel for the characters and it's like your standing and watching that very scene! Anyway, I would recommend this book to 9 year olds to 10 I enjoyed a this book ( No joke!) And I am looking forward to Jacqueline' s next book!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Jacqueline Wilson book and I was blown away. Although its a children's book there was so much historical detail that would no doubt go over kids' heads (The Eagle, The Mekon, Muffin the mule etc). I ended up looking up Brumas the polar bear and other elements of the story like the Thomas splint and I always feel if I need to Google anything its a sure sign I'm hooked.

Elsie got on my nerves a bit but the setting and the other characters helped to dilute that. As an Enid Blyton fan I appreciated the nods to The Adventure Series and the Faraway Tree.