Queenie

Queenie--------------------------------------------------It's 1953, the year Elizabeth is crowned Queen of England. Elsie Kettlecan't wait to go to London with her nan to see the celebrations onCoronation Day. Elsie lives with Nan - her mum works as a showgirl,so she's not around very often. Spirited and imaginative, but oftenlonely, Elsie longs for a best friend. Luckily, she and Nan are very" closesometimes. Then tragedy strikes. Nan and Elsie both fall ill, and Elsiefinds herself whisked away to the children's ward of the nearby hospital,with bewildering haste. Confined to bed for days, with visitors onlyallowed for two hours at the weekend, Elsie finds it very hard to adaptto the hospital's strict regime. But she invents astonishing ways ofentertaining the other children on the ward, and for the first time,finds herself surrounded by true friends - including Queenie, the hospital'smajestic white cat. But when it's time for Elsie to go home there arehuge problems - will she get the happy ending she deserves?--------------------------------------------------Author Biography: JACQUELINE WILSON is an extremely well-known andhugely popular author who served as Children's Laureate from 2005-7.She has been awarded a number of prestigious awards, including theBritish Children's Book of the Year and the Guardian Children's FictionAward (for The Illustrated Mum), the Smarties Prize and the Children'sBook Award (for Double Act, for which she was also highly commendedfor the Carnegie Medal). In 2002 Jacqueline was given an OBE for servicesto literacy in schools and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame. She wasthe author most borrowed from British libraries in the last decade.'A brilliant writer of wit and subtlety' THE TIMES 'She should be prescribedfor all cases of reading reluctance' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'Has a raregift for writing lightly and amusingly about emotional issues' BOOKSELLER