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Awaiting Developments
Jo’s secret haven is the beautiful garden of the big house nearby – until it is sold to a property developer who plans to cover it with houses and flats. In her efforts to save it she finds herself tangling with a very mixed collection of neighbours, struggling to find her way around the unreasonably big Town Hall, having to deal with the secret problem she thinks of only as It, learning quite a lot about her own family and getting some unexpected help from a long-dead ancestor.
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Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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About the author
Judy Allen
119 books24 followersJudy Allen is an award-winning author whose novel Awaiting Developments was short-listed for the Whitbread Children's Novel Award.
Judy Allen, along with illustrator Tudor Humphries, created Kingfisher's award-winning Backyard Books series and many other successful books, including the Reading Rainbow selections Tiger and Seal.
Judy Allen, along with illustrator Tudor Humphries, created Kingfisher's award-winning Backyard Books series and many other successful books, including the Reading Rainbow selections Tiger and Seal.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 20, 2022
Awaiting Developments by Judy Allen
This book won the Whitbread Award for Children's Novels and the Friends of the Earthworm Award when it was first published in 1988.
Joanna’s secret refuge is the large and beautiful garden of the old Victorian house at the back of her more modern home. She gets in through a gap in the fence, but only ever quietly observes from an inconspicuous corner where the owners cannot see her. She becomes familiar with the wildlife in the garden, the various birds, and the squirrels, and learns the names of all the plants and trees. The appearance of stability and timelessness, however, is misleading. When the elderly householders decide to sell the house, a property developer purchases it and submits plans to cover the whole area with a block of flats and several smaller residences. In order to save the garden, Joanna decides that she must step well out of her comfort zone in an attempt to rally the neighbors in a protest against the changes.
At the same time, a relative from Canada comes to stay with Joanna’s family in order to research their family history from records which can only be accessed in the UK. As an outsider with a different view of matters from her parents, Kathleen helps Joanna to see things from new perspectives, enabling her to overcome personal obstacles (such as her OCD, the effects of an allergy, and timidity) to achieve results which few people at first thought possible.
Although this is a gentle and thoughtful book, it is full of a wry humor, and certainly also has its gripping moments. Another strength is that nobody in it is altogether good or bad, and readers are helped to see events from different viewpoints, even the viewpoints of the animals in the garden. The conclusion is also realistic, being like many things in life, not entirely happy or sad. Overall, this is an enjoyable book which draws attention to the importance of conservation of the natural world in the face of the seeming inevitability of urban development.
Here are some quotations from the book:
It was odd, I thought, how you could watch a moment coming towards you for months and still play it wrong.
The things your body can do to you!
The next stage, which lasted for a couple of years at least, was a lot of sneezing and hay fever. Later my body seemed to get bored with that as well, and this year it was producing stomach pains and these awful inconvenient blobs which I couldn’t pretend weren’t there.
“Joanna, you can’t stop developers – they’re motivated by greed and that is one of the strongest motivations there is.”
I said I always forgot that grown-ups could get nervous, too.
I found I had to touch each gatepost and the gate itself five times, and also had to tap my right foot five times on the ground, exactly between the gateposts. I moved slowly, to give myself time to perform this magic charm without making it too obvious
You have to care about something an awful lot to go out and annoy strangers, I find.
“Would you like to come through and see the garden?” I said. I knew it was risky. Showing someone something you care about a lot always is, because it’s possible they may not see what’s special about it.
“Just remember,” I said, “if you see one rook, it’s a crow, and if you see lots of crows, they’re rooks.”
Worst of all though, it had just come to me that I should tap the telephone one hundred and five times before making the call. One hundred and five! It had never got into three figures before. I decided they would finally lock me up when it got into the thousands.
it is completely impossible to argue with people who are determined to forgive you for something you haven’t done.
I don’t suppose many things really do happen suddenly, even if they seem to. I expect most things creep up on you from months and months away – it’s just that you don’t see them coming.
Most people have some kind of superstition on the go, whether they admit it or not.
This book won the Whitbread Award for Children's Novels and the Friends of the Earthworm Award when it was first published in 1988.
Joanna’s secret refuge is the large and beautiful garden of the old Victorian house at the back of her more modern home. She gets in through a gap in the fence, but only ever quietly observes from an inconspicuous corner where the owners cannot see her. She becomes familiar with the wildlife in the garden, the various birds, and the squirrels, and learns the names of all the plants and trees. The appearance of stability and timelessness, however, is misleading. When the elderly householders decide to sell the house, a property developer purchases it and submits plans to cover the whole area with a block of flats and several smaller residences. In order to save the garden, Joanna decides that she must step well out of her comfort zone in an attempt to rally the neighbors in a protest against the changes.
At the same time, a relative from Canada comes to stay with Joanna’s family in order to research their family history from records which can only be accessed in the UK. As an outsider with a different view of matters from her parents, Kathleen helps Joanna to see things from new perspectives, enabling her to overcome personal obstacles (such as her OCD, the effects of an allergy, and timidity) to achieve results which few people at first thought possible.
Although this is a gentle and thoughtful book, it is full of a wry humor, and certainly also has its gripping moments. Another strength is that nobody in it is altogether good or bad, and readers are helped to see events from different viewpoints, even the viewpoints of the animals in the garden. The conclusion is also realistic, being like many things in life, not entirely happy or sad. Overall, this is an enjoyable book which draws attention to the importance of conservation of the natural world in the face of the seeming inevitability of urban development.
Here are some quotations from the book:
It was odd, I thought, how you could watch a moment coming towards you for months and still play it wrong.
The things your body can do to you!
The next stage, which lasted for a couple of years at least, was a lot of sneezing and hay fever. Later my body seemed to get bored with that as well, and this year it was producing stomach pains and these awful inconvenient blobs which I couldn’t pretend weren’t there.
“Joanna, you can’t stop developers – they’re motivated by greed and that is one of the strongest motivations there is.”
I said I always forgot that grown-ups could get nervous, too.
I found I had to touch each gatepost and the gate itself five times, and also had to tap my right foot five times on the ground, exactly between the gateposts. I moved slowly, to give myself time to perform this magic charm without making it too obvious
You have to care about something an awful lot to go out and annoy strangers, I find.
“Would you like to come through and see the garden?” I said. I knew it was risky. Showing someone something you care about a lot always is, because it’s possible they may not see what’s special about it.
“Just remember,” I said, “if you see one rook, it’s a crow, and if you see lots of crows, they’re rooks.”
Worst of all though, it had just come to me that I should tap the telephone one hundred and five times before making the call. One hundred and five! It had never got into three figures before. I decided they would finally lock me up when it got into the thousands.
it is completely impossible to argue with people who are determined to forgive you for something you haven’t done.
I don’t suppose many things really do happen suddenly, even if they seem to. I expect most things creep up on you from months and months away – it’s just that you don’t see them coming.
Most people have some kind of superstition on the go, whether they admit it or not.
February 14, 2022
I tried to be really sour about this book because I feel like I have given out too many 5 stars lately but I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it walked the line between just a fun story with lots happening and educational really well. The mum was probably my favourite character. She really got on my nerves with her "devil's advocate" stuff or whatever it was and then that was well developed.
The ending is not super-happy but it's the right balance and gives you hope for your real life.
I highly recomend this and hope middle-schoolers won't be put off by how old this book is.
The ending is not super-happy but it's the right balance and gives you hope for your real life.
I highly recomend this and hope middle-schoolers won't be put off by how old this book is.
July 26, 2020
3.5 stars. Cute story. Cleverly written. The most interesting part, about the main character’s potential OCD (at least that’s what it sounded like) was just written off at the end, so that was disappointing. And the end of the story kind of just happened too abruptly. But it was a nice enough story about a family and a neighborhood and a relatable girl.
January 16, 2020
The kind of book I would've loved as a kid. Fantastic premise , even today.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews