Wave Me Goodbye

Product Information

Jacqueline Wilson writes with humour, insight, compassion and understanding. Her characters all are credible and engaging.

Jacqueline is one of the nation’s favourite authors, and her books are loved and cherished by young readers not only in the UK but all over the world. She has sold millions of books and in the UK alone the total now stands at over 35 million! I really enjoyed reading Wave Me Goodbye. I particularly liked Archie because of the way he talks and also because he doesn't know his animals and they do, which I found funny! This was the first Wilson novel I'd read, so I was unsure what to expect. What I found was wonderful: a spell-binding and meaningful story about a girl's search for her mother -- Laura Dobbie Waterstones.com I have always loved Jacqueline Wilson since I was a child. She's always been very good at setting up and demonstrating the values within different types of families.When ten year old Shirley thinks she's going on holiday to the country she thinks her Mum is going too, until it dawns she's going alone, evacuated because of the imminent war. This book was amazing I couldn't stop reading! I loved Archie because of his funny personality and joyful attitude. I thought the history in the book was definitely very realistic and it has inspired me to research more about World War 1 and the evacuees. Her 48-year-old daughter Emma is a professor of French literature and film at Cambridge University. The author is incredibly disciplined. I have read many books by this author and have enjoyed them immensely, but this book rose above them all for one specific detail: the history. Not only this, but the way the emotion has been captured and written to perfection enhances the quality of the picture you get in your head when reading. Certain sections of this book are very emotional, such as when Shirley has run away to find a special visitor at her house (you'll have to read the book to find out what I mean!) Occasionally, but in this genre more often than not, you come across tragedy. Coming into this book I realised the element of tragedy would be common, considering the subject matter, but this area which most children are upset by has been carefully written by Jacqueline. She has made all of the history seem real without feeling threatening. I know quite a bit about World War I and II from school and from ancestors with war connection but reading this has shown how the war effected not just several countries, but individual ordinary people. If I had the chance to find out more about war and how it affected people, I would take it.

I found this book really realistic, and it helps if you are learning about evacuees and the second world war. I recommend this book to 8, 9, 10, and 11 year olds.

September, 1939: At the breakout of the Second World War , ten-year-old Shirley is sent away on a train. She doesn't know where she's going, or what's going to happen to her when she gets there. All she has been told is that she's going on 'a little holiday'. It was a big surprise when the army van came up and gave them their camp beds. When Archie went in the lake I was really surprised because he wanted to swim but he sank and Kevin and Shirley had to fish him out. With [creating] characters I find it quite easy because I made up so many imaginary friends when I was a little girl because I didn’t have any siblings,” says the divorced mother of one. I really enjoyed Wave Me Goodbye because Jacqueline Wilson used different vocabulary and included some great Victorian language. I also really enjoyed the book because Jacqueline used amazing description which made the story very interesting. In the book the history was very realistic because it was all about the evacuees and the Second World War which made the story very enjoyable to read. I would definitely like to read more of Jacqueline Wilson's books because I really the style she writes in, especially the vivid description she uses. I would also like to say that the cliff hangers she uses at the end of the chapters make you want to read on. Overall I really enjoyed the book.

It was really fun at points when Archie was running about in the striped jumper and then when they were playing as soldiers and when Shirley showed them her knife. I was glad Kevin owned up to the bed wetting incident. I don't normally read Jacqueline Wilsons but this has made me more interested. I rarely read historical books but I really enjoyed this. Wave Me Goodbye' is a story following young Shirley Smith when she is suddenly evacuated to Meadow Ridge, there she finds herself living with a secretive woman called Mrs Waverly. Throughout the book, as expected from a novel set in wartime England, there's old time language and what would be considered minor swearing but time appropriate. There's mentions of objects from wartime England and the caricatures depicted the time and theme of the book tremendously. Shirley was a great character and she really earnt a place in my heart over how kind she was and cheeky when necessary!Evacuees: another subject that I never get tired of reading about! It's just such an interesting situation, ASKING to be dramatised in fiction really. Kids being whisked away from their parents and randomly slotted into other people's families, adjusting to life in the country after growing up in the city, living with total strangers, overcrowded little country villages rationing and making do, resentment and suspicion, everyone secretly terrified and uncertain because of the war. This book made me think about history and want to learn more. My mum's friend races pigeons and and they used to help bring messages in war time we are going to see them and see how they used to do this and how they were trained. My favourite character is Shirley Smith (The main character) she loves books and can't put them down (like me). She has a very bright imagination, and can imagine any character from any of her books and make them come to life.