The Girl Who Wasn't There

By Author / Illustrator

Jacqueline Wilson, Rachael Dean

Genre

Supernatural

Age range(s)

Publisher

Penguin Random House Children's UK

ISBN

9780241684030

Format

Hardback

Published

07-03-2024

Synopsis

'And we're going to live here, happily ever after, just like a fairy tale.'

When Dad tells Luna and her little sister Aurora that they're moving to live in a real tower, it's almost like they've stepped inside a fairytale. But everything is not as magical as it first seems. The tower needs patching up, Dad still doesn't have a job and they're not even allowed in the room up at the very top.

When it's time to start at their new school, Luna quickly finds a friend, but six-year-old Aurora absolutely hates the children in her class. She prefers to spend her time with her imaginary friend, Tansy. Aurora's make-belief life causes problems for them all - and it seems like Aurora really believes Tansy exists... Is there really a curse on the tower - and will Luna be able to break it?

A spine-tingling tale from the bestselling Jacqueline Wilson.

Reviews

The Girl Who Wasn’t There is a new spine-tingling tale from Jacqueline Wilson. This story is a twist on a traditional fairy tale, Rapunzel, where there once lived a girl in a tower who awaited her rescuer and lived happily ever after.

We are first introduced to Luna and her younger sister Aurora when their dad tells them they are moving to the countryside to live in a fairy tale tower. This comes as quite a shock for Luna, but Aurora is simply overjoyed because she is obsessed with fairy tales. However, this family is far from having its fairy tale ending and finds that the tower has a magic that is clearly unwanted.

Once they move, dad ploughs all of the family’s money into fixing the tower, only to be continually disappointed with the outcomes. They also come to realise there's an unwanted presence lurking in the tower; Luna often finds Aurora talking to a rocking horse that she has found on the top floor of the tower as if it is a real person, and seems to retreat into her imaginary world more and more each day. While Aurora seems happy at her new school, Luna comes to realise her new friend Tansy is imaginary, but there is more to Aurora's imaginary friend than Luna realises. The tower and its history becomes entwined in the lives of the two girls but as the dark past is raked up, the future becomes brighter.

This book was such a pleasure to read; I found the storyline intriguing with its twists and turns. It also has very relatable themes about families, friendships and unconditional love. It is not everyday that we can discuss having an imaginary friend or believing that ghosts really do exist. This book pulls all of the questions into focus and uses genuine characters to explore the thoughts and feelings that we might be experiencing in unusual situations.

Children will learn from this book and also gain a better understanding of different situations and pressures of everyday life. It would be an excellent book for discussions in PSHE but also compliment the alternative story writing scheme in Upper Key Stage 2 curriculum as a resource.

416 pages / Reviewed by Hayley Summerfield, teacher