Deep Blue

by Jacqueline Wilson

When Barbara decides to give up competitive diving, she shatters her father's dreams of Olympic success, and family relationships worsen as she tries to gain control of her weight and cope with her guilt.

Genres: Young Adult

169 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

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

[🐢Eliza {Bat Tziyon}🌸 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It’s one of the earlier Jacqueline Wilson’s creations, from way way back, even before Nick Sharrat, and it was really good. I loved how she captured the way Barbara was maturing, the bittersweet and poignant relationship between her and her Dad, and the way they grew as people and came to realize some important things and become their own people. At first, I thought her dad was a real jerk, but as the story unfolded, I realized there was much more to him than that. He has had pain in his life, too. I loved how Saint Barbara’s story was woven into the plot, and I loved Barbara’s friendship with Luke. As always, Wilson is great at creating characters with personalities. A good read!

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

All I can say is that I can see why this has not been in print since the early 90's. Very outdated perspectives on disability, eating disorders and parenting.

Worth reading, but also YIKES!!!

[Faith · Rating 2 out of 5]

little miss says she never wants to see a jacqueline wilson book again, reads her backlog, and wonders why they all fucking suck

[Cici · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars