The Illustrated Mum

by Jacqueline Wilson

Paperback, 2000

Status

Available

Call number

823.914

Genres

Children's Books

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Accelerated Reader

Publication

CORGI YEARLING, LONDON (2000), Edition: New Ed, 224 pages

Description

Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. Covered from head to toe with one-of-a-kind tattoos, Marigold is the brightest, most beautiful mother in the world. At least, that�??s what Dolphin thinks�??she just wishes Marigold wouldn�??t stay out quite so late or have mood spells every now and again. Dolphin�??s older sister, Star, loves Marigold too, but she�??s tired of looking after her. So when Star�??s dad shows up out of the blue and offers to let the girls stay with him, Star jumps at the opportunity. But Dolphin can�??t bear to leave Marigold alone. Now it�??s just the two of them, and Dolphin is about to be

User reviews

LibraryThing member debnance

We always love our mums, don't we? Star and Dolphin definitely love their mum, Marigold, though she's a difficult mum to love. For starters, she's covered head to toe in strange tattoos, and, second, she's not always there for her daughters. Such an eccentric mum makes life complicated and

disturbing for the two girls. When Marigold comes home from a rock concert with Star's dad, Micky (not Dolphin's dad---he is a different Micky, it turns out), life becomes much more complicated and disturbing.

An unexpectedly complex look at a complex person and her complex sister and her complex mother. Recommended.

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4 more

LibraryThing member marsap

A YA novel that gives a surprisingly honest portrayal of a woman's mental illness and its effects on her two daughters. The novel is narrated her youngest daughter, 10-year-old Dolphin. High school student Star is a practical, angry teen. Their mother, Marigold, is covered in tattoos and

alternating between manic and depressive behavior. The family is constantly on the brink of being homeless and the girls essentially have to take care of themselves and their mother. After Star's father turns up and she goes to live with him, Marigold mental illness becomes more acute and she suffers a complete breakdown. The novel gives a very good description of the trauma families, especially children, go through when experiencing mental illness in the family. Scary, sad and gritty—not a book for every young reader. 4 out of 5 stars.

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LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV

Suffers in comparison to Small as an Elephant which I just read and which is very similar, and is not much richer than Stop Pretending... which is the same theme of how does a child cope with a family member who's bipolar, but in that case it's the big sister, not the mother.

This is lighter, and

longer, until near the end when it gets really intense... and then the wrapping up is basically implausible HEA. I recommend you read at least one of these if you're interested in, or naive about, mental illness. But I recommend Small as an Elephant most highly.

Not sure how three such similar books got on my list and I acquired them all at once... if I see any others on my list I'll skip 'em, take them off. None of these help me understand better, or better cope with, the family member I know who won't take his meds.

I think, maybe, part of the reason I read this is because of who the author is... but I'll have to check. I might read more from her, depending.

Oh, and even though the MC in this is ten (maybe 11), I would recommend it only for kids at least that old - I don't think it's a good fit for younger kids even if they do 'read up' to a higher level.

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LibraryThing member cougargirl1967

An excellent book.

LibraryThing member HeatherLINC

A sad story for younger readers dealing with mental illness.

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