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Siobhan Dowd
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Book
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Publisher | David Fickling Books | ||
ISBN | 9780385609715 | ||
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Reviewer
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Jayne
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Synopsis
Memories of Mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blonde locks she feels transformed. She's not Holly any more, she's Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the super-sharp talk. She's older, more confident - the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the world head on. So begins a bittersweet, and sometimes hilarious journey as Solace swaggers and Holly tiptoes across England and through memory, discovering her true self, and unlocking the secrets of her past. "Solace of the Road" is a wonderful novel from one of the UK's most talented new writers for teenagers. Holly's story will leave a lasting impression on all who travel with her.
Review
This is the final novel from Siobhan who died in August 2007, and what a fantastic book it is. I have found all of Siobhan's books wonderfully written and a legacy that will help children to read and understand who they really are.
This book is the story of Holly who just doesn't want to conform and when she finally gets to go and live with foster parents she finds a wig in a chest of drawers. The wig is blond and when she puts it on she feels confident and not recognisable as that failure known as Holly, and so the story is born.
The book is perfectly set up with the trip that the new Holly takes which is traumatic, gritty and filled with humour! But it will leave a very lasting impression on those who read this troubled youngsters tale. I hope that it can stop others from running away from home when everything seems hopeless.
Siobhan will be greatly missed and I hope that her books will help many youngsters over many years. I loved the book as I have her other two books.
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