Jacqueline Wilson Interview

This is an old one. It's been sitting around in my Google Reader for awhile now, but I'm cleaning up and you get the benefits. The Guardian did an interview with British author Jacqueline Wilson, talking over the inspiration for her books and the less-than-savory reputation she seems to have acquired amongst middle-class parents.

Her stories are about children in moderately difficult circumstances - with friends who bully them, or parents who quarrel or don't have enough money. Standard fare, perhaps, but the difference from so much traditional children's fiction is that these children live, as the author herself once did, in council flats and go to state schools.

She's much more well-known in the UK than she is on this side of the pond, but her books are starting to get more limelight over here.

I was lucky enough to have Wilson herself come talk to a Children's Literature class I was taking while studying abroad. Unfortunately, this was before I had any idea who she was, and I principally remember the number of rings she had on. Dang.