Love Lessons - Softcover

Wilson, Jacqueline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0552553522 ISBN 13: 9780552553520

Publisher: Corgi Childrens, 2006

Synopsis

Fourteen-year-old Prue and her sister Grace have been educated at home by their controlling, super-strict father all their lives. Forced to wear Mum''s odd hand-made garments and forbidden from reading teenage magazines, they know they''re very different to ''normal'' girls – but when Dad has a stroke and ends up in hospital, unable to move or speak, Prue suddenly discovers what it''s like to have a little freedom.

Sent to a real school for the first time, Prue struggles to fit in. The only person she can talk to is her kindly, young – and handsome – art teacher, Rax. They quickly bond, and Prue feels more and more drawn to him. As her feelings grow stronger, she begins to realise that he might feel the same way about her. But nothing could ever happen between them - could it?

About this title

About the Author

Jacqueline Wilson (Author) 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. 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. Jacqueline is also a great reader, and has amassed over 20,000 books, along with her famous collection of silver rings. Find out more about Jacqueline and her books at www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk Nick Sharratt (Illustrator) Nick Sharratt has written and illustrated many books for children including Shark in the Park, You Choose and Pants. He has won numerous awards for his picture books, including the Sheffield Children's Book Award and the 2001 Children's Book Award. He has also enjoyed stellar success illustrating Jacqueline Wilson's books. Nick lives in Hove.

From the Back Cover

For one mad, magical moment I thought he was going to kiss me
Prue and her sister have been educated at home by their ultra-strict father all their lives. When Dad is suddenly rushed to hospital, Prue at last discovers what it s like to have a little freedom.

Sent to school for the first time, Prue finds it difficult to settle in. The only person she can talk to is her kindly young art teacher, Rax. When she starts babysitting for Rax s children, Prue finds herself longing for the ten minutes they have alone together as he drives her home. But she can't act on her secret feelings, can she?

For teenage readers, an absorbing portrait of a forbidden relationship from the mega-bestselling Jacqueline Wilson.

Literary superstar Independent

Our Children s Laureate has an uncanny understanding of teenage girls Observer

Children s Laureate 2005-2007

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1

I hate my dad.

I know lots of teenage girls say that but they don't really mean it. Well, I don't think they do. I don't really know any other teenage girls. That's one of the reasons why I hate Dad. He keeps me a virtual prisoner.

I'm interrogated if I slip down the road to Krisha's Korner Shop. I'm not allowed to go into town by myself. I can't go to see any films. I can't eat in McDonald's.

Dad even fussed about me making a simple bus ride by myself to go to Miss Roberts for maths tuition. He took my sister Grace and me out of school ages ago, when I'd just gone into the Juniors and she was still at the finger-painting stage. Dad said he was going to educate us.

We were left to get on with it for ages, but this summer we had a home visit from a Mr Miles, who was from some kind of education authority. He wanted to know what provision Dad was making for my GCSE coursework. Dad said he didn't believe in examinations. Mr Miles smiled through Dad's tirade, obviously having heard it all before. He looked at Grace and me when Dad ran out of steam.

'What do you want to do when you're older, Prudence and Grace?' he asked.

Grace mumbled something about working with animals. Dad won't let us have any proper pets because he says he's allergic to them. Grace has a lot of secret, unsatisfactory pets, like the blackbird in the garden and the toads in the compost heap and for a while she kept a wormery hidden under her bed. Grace's pets are not exactly cuddly.

'You'll certainly need to pass lots of exams if you want to be a vet,' said Mr Miles.

Dad snorted. 'You'll find our Grace has got no more brains than a donkey,' he said unkindly. 'She'll get a job in a shop somewhere and be happy enough.'

'In your bookshop?'

'She can help sell the books, but I doubt she's up to the business side of things,' said Dad. 'But Prudence can do all the cataloguing and buying and book fairs.'

'Is that what you want to do, Prudence - run your father's business?' said Mr Miles.

I swallowed. 'I - I'd like to go to art college,' I said.

Dad glared at me. 'For goodness' sake, I've told you to forget that nonsense. You don't need to go away to college to learn drawing and painting; you can do that already.'

'But I want to go, Dad.'

Dad was furious with me for arguing in front of Mr Miles, but decided not to pursue it. 'All right, all right, go to art college, waste three years, see for yourself,' he said. He nodded triumphantly at Mr Miles. 'I guarantee she can pass her art GCSE standing on her head.'

'I dare say,' said Mr Miles. 'But I think you'll find art colleges require quite a few GCSEs, plus three good A-levels. You're going to have to make more provision for your daughters' education, Mr King, especially now Prudence is fourteen. Otherwise we might have to pursue the matter through the courts.'

'The courts!' said Mum, panicking.

'You've got no power to do any such thing,' said Dad, hands on his hips, his chin jutting. 'You can't stop parents home-educating their children.'

'Not if they've been home-educated right from the start. But your girls have attended school in the past, so I think you'll find we have every power. However, let's hope we can avoid any unpleasant action. We all want what's best for Prudence and Grace.'

Dad seemed sure Mr Miles was bluffing, but nevertheless he fixed up for me to go to this Miss Roberts for maths tuition on Wednesday afternoons.

I only went once. It was unbearable.

Miss Roberts used to teach maths at a girls' school way back in the sixties. She seemed preserved in that time, still teasing her limp grey hair into a bouffant style. Her pink scalp showed through alarmingly. I kept staring at it as she bent over me, trying to explain some supposedly simple point about algebra.

I couldn't understand any of it. I wrote down random letters of the alphabet but I couldn't tease any meaning from them. I expect letters to arrange themselves into words. If I'm doing sums I need numbers - though I'm actually useless with numbers too. I can't always add up accurately. The shop takings rarely balance on a Saturday when I help out.

Miss Roberts tried hard to be patient with me. She explained it over and over again, raising her voice and speaking very s-l-o-w-l-y. Then she switched to geometry in despair. I could draw wobbly circles with her old compass and construct reasonable squares and rectangles with my own ruler but I didn't know what any of them meant.

I paid her the twenty pounds for the tuition and she gave me a cup of tea (the milk was so old it floated in little flecks on the tan surface) and a stale custard cream.

'Don't look so woebegone, Prudence,' she said. 'Your father says you're a very bright girl. I'm sure you'll catch on in no time.'

I made an extreme effort to swallow the sour milk-biscuity paste in my mouth and thanked her politely.

I didn't go back. For the last three Wednesdays I've walked into town and spent my tuition fee. Sixty whole pounds.

I've never had so much money in my life before. Dad gives Grace and me one pound every Saturday. He behaves as if he's bestowing solid gold upon us, and even has the nerve to lecture us, telling us not to waste it on rubbish. I've always saved mine up to buy sketchpads and soft pencils and coloured crayons, bought one by one.

Grace spends hers all at once on sweets - a bar of chocolate or two, and a handful of gummy snakes. She gollops the chocolate in one go but she keeps the snakes, lining them up on the arm of the sofa, red and yellow and green like a slithery traffic light. She plays with them, giving them names and personalities, but she can't help licking them affectionately so that they all get very sticky. She tries to save them till Sunday, though she sometimes can't stop herself biting off a head or two on Saturday night.

Edition details

• Publisher: Corgi Childrens
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0552553522
• ISBN 13: 9780552553520
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272
• Illustrator: Sharratt Nick