Well, that was certainly not what I was expecting…
In an effort to read more classic books, I was recently perusing the BBC’s The Big Read list of 200 books. Coming second, only to Terry Pratchett, was Jacqueline Wilson with 14 books on the list. This surprised me because, as an American, I was not familiar with her or her works. In Britain, she is a much beloved children’s literature author, with the “Tracy Beaker” stories being amongst her most prominent.
The cover of the book with its child-like illustrations and bright colors led me to believe I was about to read a happy story about a creative child. The reality was so much different. Perhaps if I had read this as a child, I would have identified with Tracy and found her to be plucky and funny. Reading this as an adult, however, I found the story absolutely heartbreaking.
The story is told from the perspective of Tracy Beaker, a ten-year-old girl living in a group children’s home. The book begins as an exercise with her completing an “All About Me” type book which serves as an exposition device. Tracy does not know who her father is and she was removed from her mother’s care after her mother’s new boyfriend “beat [her] up.” This horrific detail is only stated once, though at other times Tracy wishes that the boyfriend would be punished. Tracy deifies her absent mother and, like many abandoned children, eagerly awaits her return, believing she will swoop in and whisk Tracy off to Hollywood where she imagines her mother now lives. Her mother had visited Tracy a few times at her initial foster placement but has not been heard from in several years. Tracy has been rejected from two foster placements, the first with a mean couple who physically abused her. The second placement was good for Tracy, but the couple unexpectedly fell pregnant and due to Tracy’s history of acting out at younger children, the couple did not feel that having her in the house would be safe for their new child.
Tracy has difficulty getting along with the other children and adults in the group home. She is constantly telling tales and at one point, destroys the Mickey Mouse alarm clock given to another child from her father. She gets into several physical fights with that same child. One young boy, who has lost his parents and the grandmother he was living with, tries to befriend her. After a while, she agrees to be his friend, but still lashes out at him and is pretty awful to him upon learning that an older couple wants to give him a forever home.
Tracy decides that she wants to be a writer and latches on to Cam, a writer who comes to the home to interview the children and staff for a story she is writing for the newspaper. Cam is very good to Tracy and agrees to take her out to lunch at McDonald’s, a treat Tracy has only ever dreamed of. Tracy tries to convince Cam to become her foster mother and though Cam initially dismisses the idea, she becomes more open to it as Tracy persists. The book leaves off with that arrangement not yet taking place, but with the hope that it will in the future.
This book, while played for laughs, was really upsetting to me. Tracy’s behavioral issues obviously stem from her being abandoned and she clearly was not receiving the support she needed. They even discuss the idea of becoming “institutionalized” and not being able to acclimate to a normal home life on the outside. This is a children’s book with very, very adult themes. I’m not sure I would be okay with my child reading this by themselves, but I can see how it could be used as a teaching tool. I’m honestly not sure how to rate this or whether I would recommend it to others. I will say that it was eye-opening and the opposite of what I expected.