Dustbin Baby

Tessa Peake Jones reads Jacqueline Wilson's Dustbin Baby in this unabridged double-cassette audio book. Jacqueline Wilson is the diva of dynamic writing for children, and in Dustbin Baby--possibly her best book since The Illustrated Mum--she proves yet again that she is a force to be reckoned with.

April Showers (so called because of her birth date, April 1, and her tendency to burst into tears at the drop of a hat) was unceremoniously dumped in a rubbish bin when she was only a few hours old. Her young life has passed by in a blur of ever-changing foster homes but as she enters her teens she decides it is time to find out the truth about her real family.

As ever, Wilson breaks through the barriers and brings one of her trademark feisty females to life in an original, unforgettable and often very funny story that is sure to make you weep. She tackles the big emotional issues with one foot firmly on the ground, allowing her characters to thrive against a backdrop of sadness. But she never lapses into melodrama or schmaltz and ultimately showers the reader with an overwhelming feeling of hope.

The story is suitable for ages nine and above and running time is three hours and 15 minutes. --Susan Harrison

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View books by Jacqueline Wilson.

BRILL BOOK - Rated
The story plot of the book
April is left in a dustbin straight after her birth...

About the author of the book
Jacqueline Wilson is one of my favourite authors and she wrote this book! She has her own personal collection of over 15,000 books and I've about a thirtieth of that (500)!

About the awards and sequel for the book:
This book is not part of a series of books; it hasn't won any awards either. However, it is by a hugely popular and well-known author, Jacqueline Wilson, who has won many, many different awards including the Children's Book Award (she has won that a lot of times) and the Smarties Prize (for Double Act).

My awards for the book
I would rate this brilliant book 10/10; I really, really enjoyed this book, to prove that I really, really enjoyed this book I couldn't put it down until the very end! I would recommend it to anyone who really likes Jacqueline Wilson's books - just like me, especially older girls.

Avoid for sensitive children! - Rated
My daughter is 8 and we bought this book as she's enjoyed many of the others. There was nothing on it to suggest that it wasn't suitable for an 8 year old so I was horrified to find her breaking her heart and begging me to take the book away so she couldn't see it. Why? April's mother commits suicide in the bathroom. Not something a child should EVER need to read about!!!!!!!!

Dustbin Baby - Rated
I really enjoyed this book. I think that it is one of Jacqueline Wilson's best books.

It is about a girl called April who was found in a dustbin when she was a baby. It tells her life story and it is very sad, especially when it gets to what happened to her parents, her Mum especially. A must-read.

Spot on as usuall for Jaqueline Wilson!!! - Rated
Jaqueline wilson is one of the best teen authors around thanks to some of her books like this. This isn't her best book but it is still good.
The book is the main character April telling her lifestory. This is slow to get moving to the good part and when you think it's just gotten good it finishes weakly. At the end i thought what was the point of writing this if you can't even finish it properly.

Her best book - Rated
The enchanting style of Children's Laureate Jacqueline Wilson is not always in top form (note more recent efforts such as Clean Break) but here, in Dustbin Baby, the novel flows perfectly.
The story is so reminicent of the feelings of a teenage girl who needs her own identity, and her eventual realisation that what she has been desperately seeking is already with her, that it is spooky.
Touching, sad and ultimately uplifting, Dustbin Baby is a book you will not forget.