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What kind of a name is Beauty? Well it’s my name for a start, but that doesn’t mean I love it.
Beauty Cookson is no beauty. She's a plain, timid girl who constantly gets teased by the super-confident, snooty girls at school. Worse than the teasing in the playground, though, is the unpredictable, hurtful criticism from her father. Beauty and her meek, sweet mother live in uneasy fear of his fierce rages, sparked whenever they break one of his fussy house rules.
After an unbearable birthday party and the very real threat of Dad's out-of-control temper, Mum and Beauty run away. Now in a quiet, idyllic seaside village, their new-found freedom and a moment of culinary inspiration give them a hobby, an income and even a new nickname for Beauty.
Can they begin a happier, sweeter life - without Dad?
A charming, page-turning and heart-warming story from the beloved Jacqueline Wilson.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Popular British author Wilson's latest may be a tough sell a novel that looks cheery, with Sharratt's trademark cartoonish illustrations, but contains much darkness. The unfortunately named Beauty Cookson lives with her abusive, obnoxious, financially successful father, Gerry, and her saintly mother, Dilly, his third wife. Both mother and daughter live in fear of setting off Dad, who turns his volcanic temper on them at the slightest provocation. Beauty, a talented student with plain looks, is also unmercifully teased at school. The villains are without nuance Dad has not a single redeeming quality beyond his income (he abhors art and homemade cookies). Beauty's fear is palpable and sad, but her method of comforting herself by having imaginary conversations with a TV show host (think Blue's Clues with a rabbit) may make her seem delusional. After nearly 200 pages of verbally terrorizing his wife and daughter, Dad does something so horrible that Mom finally flees with Beauty. The happily-ever-after ending seems pat given the gritty stuff that's gone before, but if Wilson's aim was to write a novel that makes a powerful argument for divorce, she's succeeded. Ages 9 12.
