The Best Sleepover in the World: The long-awaited sequel to the bestselling Sleepovers!

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This book is the sequel to Jacqueline Wilson's Sleepovers, which is a book I read as a child. Honestly I reread the first book before reading this, but I can’t say I think the author did, as there were a couple of inconsistencies between the two.

Jacqueline Wilson wrote her first novel when she was nine years old, and she has been writing ever since. She is now one of Britain’s bestselling and most beloved children’s authors. She has written over 100 books and is the creator of characters such as Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather. More than forty million copies of her books have been sold. There’s going to be a swim in a luxury pool, a special makeover for every guest, and a real-life meeting with a social media superstar. Lily, Daisy's older sister, decides that she is also going to throw a brilliant sleepover on the same night as Chloe's. How can they possibly compete? Tween friendship dramas, inclusive characters and best friends make this the perfect book for 8-12 year old readers. Lily is disabled and represented in a realistic and respectful manner. Her interactions with her friends and family using the sign / symbol language of Makaton ( called Key Word Sign in Australia and used by people all over the world who have speech delay or communication difficulties) and joy at being understood, included and able to make her wants known is palpable. But anyway, I have to say I didn't realise just how short a read this would be and was therefore a little disappointed by this, having thought I'd be in for a good summers read, only to finish it within 2 days. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable enough read, I liked how Lily's sleepover that rivalled Chloe's in that it was all about quality over quantity, with just Daisy and Lily and their respective best friends Emily and Natalie, like I thought that was a really nice concept. It was interesting as well showing how impressionable young people can really be, with Amy and Bella having been easily influenced into attending Chloe's birthday party due to having the chance to swim and dance, with both these things being their respective favourite hobbies! On the other hand though, it would have been nice to see more of Amy, Bella, Daisy and Emily in their friendship group together.Daisy has just moved to a new school and making new friends is hard but when she joins Chloe, Emily Amy and Bella she thinks she is set. But Chloe always has to be the best, and soon the friends are split. Emily is now Daisy's best friend but when Chloe announces that she is going to throw THE BEST SLEEPOVER IN THE WORLD Daisy is worried her new friends will be forced by Chloe to choose between going to the sleepover and being friends with Daisy. Wilson said: “I’ve always been touched that so many young women have told me that Sleepovers was their favourite out of all my stories, and that it was their comfort book as they got older. I’ve often wondered what happened to Daisy and her non-verbal sister, Lily. At long last I’ve written a sequel, The Best Sleepover in The World, so we can all find out – and see how Lily comes into her own.”

As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children's Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children's Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame. Sleepovers featured Daisy, the new girl at school who was desperate to fit in with her new friends in the Alphabet Club. Not much really happened in the book, and the writing was rather bland. Even the mean girl Chloe, who was an absolutely awful child in the first book, didn't really do much here. It's almost as if JW was worried about offending anyone if she made her mean character too mean. Which, come on, if you've read any of JW's other work, well it’s very colourful. It’s interesting. But this book is quite boring apart from the disabled kids and it’s rather sad. And the disabled kids are only done well because it's so refreshing to see disabled characters in media! Where this book really shines is with the writing of Lily. Lily is an actual real character now, where as in the original book she was just like a prop or plot device. The first book really did Lily wrong with the way she was written, and I'm glad JW righted that wrong here. Lily is shown to be her own person, with her own thoughts and feelings, just like every other disabled person. (I am disabled myself. I am autistic. I thought there was something wrong with me when I first read the first book as a child because I'm disabled like Lily, just in a different way.) Lily is smart and capable enough to communicate with her sister Daisy, and they have some lovely interactions in the book. I loved Lily's character. She's a lot of fun. To reach this entrance, enter the Royal Festival Hall via the Southbank Centre Square Doors. Take the JCB Glass Lift to Level 2 and exit to the Riverside Terrace. Turn right to find the Queen Elizabeth Hall main entrance.

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As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children’s Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame. I also liked Lily's friend Natalie when she was introduced, though maybe she wasn't in the book for long enough. I think perhaps the book might have been better if the story had been told from Lily's perspective, or perhaps with alternating viewpoints from both Daisy and Lily. I think showing Natalie as having a different disability to Lily is actually really good as well, because disability looks different for every disabled person. My only negative, is the first book was written when mobiles weren't big, except in size, and the internet wasn't as easily accessible, especially on a mobile device. References made to tiktok and dance trends make it more relevant. It wasn't too overplayed, but in my mind, it was hard to accept that suddenly social media is in this universe. I was quite looking forward to reading this when I first heard that Jacqueline Wilson was doing a sequel to her 2001 book Sleepovers, 22 years after the original, and was interested to see what it would be like. Despite seemingly continuing from where they left off, taking place only right after the original book, it included some present-day elements such as TikTok, which didn't seem to fit in with the timeline of things, being a continuity error at that, given that the previous book took place in 2001, long before TikTok and most social media platforms and apps for that matter existed, but then again I could see why it would be easier to include these elements into a story being written today, especially when involving kids with all the trends they following being social media centered.

From bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson, Sleepovers is a funny but moving tale exploring bullying, disability and friendship. It is the perfect book to introduce young readers to the world of Jaqueline Wilson, one of the country's most beloved authors. Guess what!" said Amy. "It's my birthday next week and my mum says I can invite all my special friends for a sleepover party." I loved the focus on children with disabilities, and the highlighting of the importance of Makaton. I am a firm believer that Makaton should be taught to all children from a young age. I also LOVED the fact that Uncle Gary was a Drag Queen! Lots of diversity was explored and celebrated in this book, and that’s exactly what children need to be exposed to within their reading for pleasure. Children need to know that everybody is different and that that’s more than okay. The book has an even more half-bothered ending than usual from JW (and that’s saying something!) because it just ends, mid-conversation, just like that. I might just be autistic here, but I'm not even sure Amy and Bella are still friends with Emily and Daisy, and if anyone is friends with Chloe now as well? I'm not sure who's friends with who! I loved this book so much!! I’m definitely outside of the intended audience at 20 years old but I was obsessed with the first book when I was younger (I read it at least 30 times lol) so when I found out there was a sequel I knew I had to read it!!

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A moving look at friendship, sleepovers and siblings from the much loved, bestselling Jacqueline Wilson. Read more Details Uncle Gary is amazing, and i loved how his drag queen persona was brought into the book as well, that was so good to see! Talk to a member of staff at the auditorium entrance if you have a disability that means you can’t queue, or you need extra time to take your seat. They can arrange priority entry for you as soon as the doors open.

For step-free access from the Queen Elizabeth Hall Slip Road off Belvedere Road to the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium seating (excluding rows A to C) and wheelchair spaces in the Rear Stalls, plus Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer and the Purcell Room, please use the Queen Elizabeth Hall main entrance. It wasn’t even as if the friend group had a dramatic falling out or anything. Most dramatic was Bella deciding to go to Chloe's sleepover, because it honestly seemed a bit of out character for her. Bella was really nice in the first one, where here she’s almost mean, though maybe not realising it. Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award. I absolutely loved it! I loved how Lily was a much more developed character this time around; last time, she was talked about a lot but we never really got to know her very well. But this time she was more developed and I absolutely loved how she communicated with those around her using Makatron. I had never heard of Makatron before this book so it was so good to learn about it!!A moving look at friendship, sleepovers and siblings from the much loved, bestselling Jacqueline Wilson. Read more Look Inside Details