15 June 2001 VICKY ANGEL by Jacqueline Wilson, Delacorte Press, September 2001

"My hand shakily scythes through Vicky's waist. She gets the giggles. I start giggling too. I always catch the giggles from Vicky, we get in heaps of trouble at school...Oh God, I'm in trouble now. There's a little crowd of white-faced mourners standing at the edge of the pavement, looking at the tire marks in the road and the flowers where Vicky died. They're looking at me too. And I'm laughing."

VICKY ANGEL is (excuse the pun) a haunting story about the ups and downs of the friendship between two girls. Together since nursery school, a tragic and fatal accident in ninth grade cannot keep the domineering Vicky from continuing her control over Jade's life. Vicky simply comes back in the spirit form to make Jade feel guilty about the accident, and to tell her who to, and who not to, hang out with. Always expecting to spend their lives together, will Jade now be forced to live with Vicky the Ghost and her arbitrary notions through eternity? We see Jade as she evolves into a basket case.

It is this darker side of the tale, balancing the comedic side, which has kept me thinking about this book for days:

"She doesn't leave me alone now. She's in bed beside me when I wake up. If I stretch I slice straight through her. Her face laughs into mine as I brush my teeth. She sits on the edge of the bath and chats while I'm on the toilet. She watches me dress and teases me with all her different outfits while I'm stuck with the same dreary clothes day after day. She nibbles my food, though she never leaves bite marks. She walks to school with me, nattering all the way, demanding replies. I wish there was some way of avoiding Vicky's flower site but she won't let me walk right round and go into school the back way. She loves looking at all her flowers."

While Jacqueline Wilson is primarily seen as a fun read for the 8-12's, the peer issues and the age of the characters also makes this an appropriate, quick read for middle graders . My understanding is that Wilson's books are as wildly popular with kids on both sides of the Atlantic as they are at my house. As with her previous books, VICKY ANGEL should fly off the shelves. (Yeah, okay, I'm just in one of those moods today.)

Richie Partington

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