Review of Opal Plumstead

Review of ‘Opal Plumstead’ By Jacqueline Wilson

Guest Review by Amie age 10

We were recently offered the chance to review Opal Plumstead, Jacqueline Wilson’s 100^th book and immediately thought of our friend Amie, who is a huge fan. She jumped at the chance to read it and share her thoughts with us.

Amie really enjoyed the book, which is set during World War One and tells the story of Opal’s family life. Opal comes from a modest background but when it looks like her father’s book is going to be published the family are delighted to think they might soon have some more money. They start to spend more than they should and then when the publication of the book falls through, rather than tell his family her Father keeps up the pretence, stealing from his work to fund their spending. Inevitably he gets caught and ends up being put into prison. Opal then has to find work to help support the family and her story continues from there.

Amie says she loved the fact that there are lots of twists and turns along the way, which kept you interested in what was coming next. She really enjoyed learning about the time the book was set in and the events that surrounded this time, particularly the suffragette movement which features in the book. She also liked the fact that Opal wrote letters to her Father without her Mother knowing. Overall Amie really enjoyed this book giving it a score of 5/5 and would recommend it to children age 9-14.

A quick note from Luke’s Mum….

Opal Plumstead is a good read with an interesting story line and it will keep Jacqueline Wilson fans well entertained for a fair while.

From an adult point of view I feel this book covers some quite grown up issues so would personally recommend it for the older group within Amie’s recommended age group or for more mature children within the younger side of it.