The Lottie Project

Product Description
Jacqueline Wilson is a bestselling author in England, second only to J. K. Rowling.

Charlie’s world is changing — for the worse. Her new teacher refuses to call her anything but Charlotte. (Blech!) And forces her to sit next to Jamie Edwards, the most revolting stuck-up boring boy in the whole class. (Yuck!) And assigns her a project on the boring Victorian period. (Ugh!) But Charlie’s dreary research — and her active imagination — leads to some interesting discoveries. Like Lottie . . . A nursemaid whose life in the Victorian era holds some interesting parallels to Charlie’s own.

Publishers Weekly
Wilson (Double Act) here introduces an animated heroine who delivers droll observations in a self-assured voice with a decidedly British accent. ‘I love fooling around, doing crazy things and being a bit sassy and making everyone laugh,’ announces Charlie (short for Charlotte). Her engaging prattle chronicles events at school–where she tangles with her teacher, bickers with her best friends and works on a project about Victorian life–as well as happenings at home. Charlie’s newly unemployed single mother takes on three part-time positions, the most notable being a job as caregiver for a youngster who lives with his father. Much to the girl’s chagrin, her mother takes a fancy to her employer. Their evolving relationship provides the backdrop for the novel’s most dramatic and poignant scenes, in which Wilson reveals her ability to elicit tears as well as laughter. Between chapters, readers find reproduced ‘pages’ from Charlie’s school report–journal-like entries written by a poor Victorian girl who leaves home to help support her family. Wilson creatively reshapes Charlie’s own experiences to depict the plight of a girl living 100 years earlier, thus adding new dimension to Charlie’s perceptions while offering intriguing period particulars. Sharratt’s lively, doodled spot drawings further reinforce the protagonist’s view of life, both present and past. To borrow a phrase from Charlie, it would be ‘easy peasy, simple pimple’ to welcome her back. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal
Gr 4-6-Charlotte (Charlie) Enright thinks her first day of school will be ‘Easy-peasy, simple-pimple’-until she meets her new teacher. Miss Beckworth is a no-nonsense type, whereas outspoken Charlie likes to play the class clown. To make matters worse, Miss Beckworth assigns seats alphabetically and Charlie ends up sitting next to Jamie Edwards, the perennial teachers’ pet. This year, the class is focusing on the Victorian period; each student is required to do a special project on the era. When Charlie spots a photograph of a nurserymaid about her age, she names her Lottie and writes a diary from the servant’s point of view. Lottie’s fictional diary entries alternate with Charlie’s own story, with the former adding historical detail, and both narratives reflecting the changes in the girl’s life. And things are changing for Charlie: her single mother loses her job and becomes romantically involved with the father of the child she now baby-sits, her best friends are suddenly boy crazy, and she finds out that Jamie isn’t all that bad after all. Wilson has written a funny, thoughtful novel with a well-developed main character. Charlie’s emotions and reactions are true to life-frustration, jealousy, and uncertainty about the future. By turns poignant and humorous, this book is a winner. Sharratt’s entertaining pen-and-ink illustrations are scattered throughout, highlighting details from the text.-Terrie Dorio, Santa Monica Public Library, CA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews
Charlie likes her life, and would like everything to stay just as it is, but Fate has other plans for her: a strict new teacher, Miss Beckworth (who insists on calling her Charlotte), a different seat assignment (next to Jamie Edwards), and a mother who’s acting as if her new employe