Lola Rose by Jacqueline Wilson

The Book
Release Date: 2003

No. 121 - The BIG Read

When life with Jayni's violent-tempered father becomes too frightening to cope with, Jayni, her mum and her little brother Kenny are forced to escape in the middle of the night. Slipping out of the house unseen, travelling up to London by train and checking into a hotel - it's almost like playing an elaborate game. They even make up false identities to protect their secret, and Jayni becomes the glamorous-sounding Lola Rose. But when money runs out and reality bites, what will they do next?

My Opinion  3 STARS
It seems most of the Jacqueline Wilson's books are quite dark in the fact that there is abuse or something else going on that the eleven or twelve year old ends up being more of an adult than her parents.

Jayni who calls herself Lola Rose after her mother flees from their father when instead of just hitting her mother he suddenly turns on the daughter.

They head to London and although her mother is very loving and seems to love them very much she is also another selfish parent.  She can't keep a proper job, brings a strange younger man into their lives and spends money like water slipping through her fingers.

Lola-Rose spends most of her time looking after her younger brother Kenny (now Kendall), keeping him happy, taking him to and from school and when her mother goes into hospital looking after him by herself until their is no money or food left, upon she rings her auntie who she has never seen before.

Again nothing can go right and we find her mum has Caner and her very large Auntie turns up and looks after everything.  Both sisters squabble but it shows that even though they haven't seen each other for years  they still love each other.

Being a Jacqueline Wilson book we do get a HEA but of course there is lots of trouble along the way, with the girl feeling older and doing older things than she should be.  A girl who is put in a situation far above her age range in which she has no option to cope.