Trending 25th March 2024 by Jade Hayden

Jacqueline Wilson’s Girls Series Prepared Me For Adulthood

Be still, my beating heart...

How old were you when you fell in love with Girls In Love?

11? 12? Around 8 and probably too young to be reading books like that?

I was the latter. Tucked up in bed on a school night, I took the novel out of my bag having finally gotten it from the library and began. And I was hooked.

I had, like most girls my age, grown up reading Jacqueline Wilson books. Tracey Beaker, The Lottie Project, The Suitcase Kid, The Bed and Breakfast Star… the list goes on.

Her novels weren’t like regular children’s books. They dealt will real-life, family issues like divorce, poverty, and foster care. There was an honest grittiness to them that didn’t appear in other books of the time that tended to focus on vapid school crushes and magical kingdoms.

The Girls series took that realism a step further. Written for Wilson’s teenage audience (or, ahem, 8 year olds who were reading beyond their age), the series followed three best friends dealing with all of the things that teenagers tend to deal with.

There’s sex, there’s love, there’s nights out, there’s breakups, hook ups, fights, and lots of trouble with school. As a genuine child reading about these girls’ adventures, I was enthralled.

Everything about being a teenager fascinated me. Puberty, drama, boys, girls… I was, like most children, dying to grow up, and the Girls series gave me a taste of what that might be like, in a safe and secure way.

Contrary to my hopes and dreams, my teenage years weren’t anything like that of the Girls universe. I was quiet and awkward and terrified of everyone. I went out but there was very little drama. I never got in trouble at school, or failed a test. My mam knew were I was pretty much every minute of every day.

But still, I knew what to expect. Being a child of the ’90s meant that I was destined for poor sex education and unrealistic expectations of relationships. But my reading meant that I had an okay-ish idea of what went down, without being totally exposed to content that wasn’t meant for me.

Wilson ended the Girls series in 2002, and although her work should remain a touchstone for any young girl coming of age, we don’t really see a lot of teens reading, well, books for teens, anymore.

It would only make sense then that Wilson would want to return to the girls who lauded her, the girls who are now in their 30s and 40s who grew up with her stories.

Wilson announced the sequel to Girls a few days back, and when I say I screeched, I am not exaggerating. The new novel will follow Ellie, Magda and Nadine in their 40s, as they navigate life, love, and literal adulthood, a world away from their teenage selves.

The synopsis reads: “Being an adult isn’t quite what Ellie Allard dreamed it would be when she was fourteen years old.

“Though she’s got her beautiful daughter Lottie, life-long best friends in Magda and Nadine and her trusty cat Stella, her love life is non-existent and she feels like she’s been living on auto-pilot, just grateful to be able to afford the mortgage on her pokey little flat.

But this year on her birthday, the universe seems to decide it’s time to for all that to change – whether Ellie wants it to or not. As she navigates new, exciting and often choppy waters, she’s about to discover that life will never stop surprising you – if only you let it.”

Bring it on, Jacky. An entire generation of women are waiting with bated breath.

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