Threads

by Sophia Bennett

Paperback, 2009

Status

Checked out

Due 22-11-2023

Call number

823.92

Publication

Chicken House Ltd (2009), 272 pages

Description

Three fourteen-year-old friends with very different interests befriend a twelve-year-old Ugandan refugee whose gift for design takes off in the high-fashion world of twenty-first-centuryLondon.

User reviews

LibraryThing member CaroTheLibrarian

PLUS -
* A combination of girly pink fluff and some quite thought provoking parts about asylum seekers and belonging.
* Well written characters with interesting variety.

MINUS -
* The three main girl characters were so different that I'm not sure they would really have such good friends as they are

in the book.
* The main plot - refugee girl gets discovered as genius fashion designer seems more than a little far fetched and unlikley but.... if we're talking about inspiring kids to follow their dreams then maybe there's not so much wrong with that after all.

OVERALL -
* Fun and frothy, definitely one for the girls, but with enough of more the serious underlying issues to make it more than you run-of-the-mill teenage chick-lit.

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3 more

LibraryThing member Ladybug83

Tell me what's this book about?Nonie, a girl who lives and breathes for fashion, Edie a girl who wants to work for UN when she grows up and Jenny a new star in Hollywood. Edie is an idealist an works on many different projects, one of the things she does is volunteer to help other children with

their homework. Through this project the three friends meets Crow, a 12 year old refugee from Uganda. Crow cannot read and Edie is struggling to find a way to teach her. Together the girls quite by chance figure out a way to make Crow want to learn how to read. Crow loves fashion and she can design the most amazing dresses. Through their friendship with Crow the girls all get their chance to realize their own dreams, but is it right of them to do so?My thoughts on Threads:This is a fashion fairytale, there is no other way to put it. I say fairytale because the story isn't very realistic, you have to take it for what it is; a fairytale. If you do as I advice then you will enjoy this sweet story about four girls and a couple of boys and a whole lot of fashion. I'm sure all the girls out there who loves fashion will appreciate all the references to the real fashion world.If I was a teenager today then I'm sure I would have devoured this book and loved it, the 26 year old me really enjoyed reading this book and looks forward to read the sequel Boys, beads and bangles(don't you just love the title?!). Unfortunately it doesn't come out in Norway until 2011, so I think I have to read it in English(I don't mind that at all ;)) Threads is divided into fairly short chapters which makes this an easy read even for a reluctant reader, it is easy to take short breaks when the chapter ends(but I think most of the readers in Threads target group will finish this book in no time).Worth noticing: £1 from every sale going direct to Save the Children. Kudos to Sophie Bennett and her publisher I think that is great! It makes me feel guilty for receiving a copy, let's hope that my review will get at least one more copy of Threads sold.

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LibraryThing member mads14

Threads is one of the most beautiful, fun and creative books I’ve read all year. It’s one of those books that you just have to have on the shelf, in easy reach for regular reading. Beautifully and wittily told with vibrant characters that jump out from the page and twirl you around, those that

love the crazy world of fashion and even those that don’t will really enjoy this fantastic story, I know I did.

Nonie, Edie and Jenny are best friends, normal teenagers with big dreams. But it’s when Edie introduces them to Crow, a refugee girl who wears dungarees and fairy wings, that they will have a chance to use their dreams, of working in the fashion industry, United Nations and Hollywood movies, to help children like Crow to also follow their dreams. The back of the book says the rest, but read it, you’ll truly enjoy it.

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LibraryThing member wiremonkey

This book was recommended to me by my daughter who ordered it through one of those Scholastic flyers that circulate through the school (I used to love those, and can't deny my daughters a couple of books each month).

There were several things initially scary about this book, the two most remarkable

aspects being the sugary pink cover and its sticky sweet, alliterative title. However, duty called. The story is about a trio of tweens living in upper middle class London. One of them is an actress, the other a brain and the narrator a fashionista with an art-loving, gallery owning ex-model for a mother and a handsome, kind older brother. One day they end up going to a school fair in one of the schools where the Brain tutors a skinny thirteen year old who is usually more truant than not. They find her behind a booth selling what looks like scraps of cloth and being bullied by some mean girls. They buy the scraps of cloth to show up the mean girls only to find out that they are actually well-designed skirts. It turns out that the skinny little girl is a great designer. The fashionista sets her up, uses her mother's contacts and soon her designs are all the rage. But then it comes out that the girl is from Uganda, where her family lives still. Her older brother has been taken by the soldiers and they don't know if he is alive. She herself used to be a nightwalker, one of the children who used to walk all night to a neighbouring village to avoid being taken by the soldiers.

You can see where this is going, can't you? Fashion meets social justice. The girls are able to make a difference and look fabulous in the process.

A fluffy read with a totally unrealistic premise, it was still kind of fun. It was what it was. How is that for a critique?

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