In 1960, teenager Laura meets French exchange student Leon at the local lido. A boy has never been interested in her before, so she’s flattered by his attentions but one night, her life changes forever. Full of shame, her family send Laura away to a place full of girls just like her. A place where young, expectant mothers have only each other left to rely on.

Fully immersed in the 1960s, Baby Love introduces readers to very real, vulnerable characters and the intense emotions that come with being a young, abandoned, expectant mother. It ends on a note of hope, which I thoroughly appreciated because I spent most of the narrative worried that it wouldn't! Celebrating the unique bond between mothers and their babies, Baby Love is a beautiful, heartbreaking yet uplifting novel that shows that Wilson is unstoppable and still one of the greatest living writers for young people.

Baby Love is a hard hitting teen story of first’s, and a harsh look at the realities some went through in a turbulent time.
Many Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overview:
In 1960’s Britain, Teenager Laura tackles the difficulties of growing up. It becomes even more muddled when a miscommunication with a French exchange student leads to the unimaginable- Laura becoming pregnant at 14. As she delves into herself to figure out what to do- and is sent away by her family to a mothers home, where she will learn more about others like her- and the true realities for a teenage mum-to-be in this turbulent time whilst forging close to unbreakable bonds along the way.

Review:
Plot and World building- I have grown up reading Jacqueline Wilson books, as a younger reader it was all about Tracy beaker, and as a teen I fell hard for Love Lessons and My Sister Jodie so to say I was eagerly anticipating a return to Wilson’s writing was an understatement. Before I start- This book does have content warnings and is definitely for older teens as it discusses topics of consent, teenage pregnancy and childbirth.

I have a general knowledge around the history of teenage pregnancies in the 60’s courtesy of my grandparents, and Wilson tackles such difficult topics in this book, including consent, in such a dynamic and thought provoking way for older teen readers in this book it which is something I greatly appreciate.

The plot overall was well planned and executed, it took me a while to truly engage but overall was extremely interesting and engaging for me. There was one point, without spoilers, I’m surprised didn’t happen and thought the book was building up to- but might just be my thought processes. Pacing was quite slow initially but as it picked up made the story much easier to read.

Characters
Laura is a naïve, quite babyfied darling of a child in this book. That is reflected in her actions and prose thought process throughout and initially irked me as she seemed more towards the 10 year old mind-set than 14. As she makes friends, comes into herself and realises more of the world to become more adult its quite gratifying to see her grow. She realises the mistakes, the decisions and the struggle decisions can be and honestly her development throughout from innocent naivety to mother was extremely well executed. Honestly I was so happy that she, unlike many, got a good ending in this situation she was in.

Her Family members were extremely frustrating and quite, how to put this, way too much about appearances, for me personally… but as it reflected the time period so I can understand this and their interactions and relationship with Laura.

Final Thoughts,
Expertly and deftly developed and executed, a story of love in a difficult time and situation.

I loved Jacqueline Wilson books when I was in primary school and at the start of secondary school (roughly between the ages of 9 and 14). I was therefore excited to read this more mature book aimed at Young Adults. Baby Love provides a fantastic insight into life in the UK for an ordinary family in the 1960s. At times I felt as thought the dialogue was a little unrealistic and overly formal, but overall I thought Wilson did a great job developing the characters and story. I’m in my mid 20s and I couldn’t help but think that I would’ve enjoyed the book more, had I been a teenager.

Thank you to Penguin Random House, Jaqueline Wilson and NetGalley for the ARC of Baby Love.

A wonderful read that I devoured within 24 hours.. Whilst technically aimed at a younger audience than myself, you really can't go wrong with Jaqueline Wilson - She has this magical ability to completely draw you in, getting you invested in the characters and rooting for them all the way through the book.

Set in 1960, the book reads like a memoir of Laura, a young girl who lives with her very overprotective parents in a shanty town. Laura wants nothing more than to belong, so when.a popular girl called Nina at school shows an interest in sparking up a friendship, Laura is over the moon. The two become close and Laura finds herself in unfamiliar territory with socialising, days out and meeting boys. Without her fully understanding what is happening, Laura ends up having a sexual encounter with a teenager on the way home from a lido and more shockingly at just 14 years of age, discovers she is pregnant.

In this time period, pregnancy out of wedlock would bring shame upon a family, so Laura is disowned by her parents and sent away to a safe house to have her baby. Like many young girls in this situation, her parents are encouraging her to have her baby adopted, pretend that she has been suffering from TB, and then return home like nothing has happened.

This story shares the heartwrenching and emotional reality of many young women who found themselves in the same situation as Laura, with some lovely messages of hope, friendship and courage thrown into the mix.

I loved the way Jaqueline covers important topics of consent and sexual assault at the end as well as help lines for any one triggered by the content.

There are some older themes in this book so an older target audience than some of her books, but I would say best aimed at young teens and above.

A wholy relatable story (even though I have not experienced happens) that draws the reader into Laura's life. You become wholly invested in her and her babies future. It led me back to naive times of innocent exploration during those difficult and confusing teenage years. So many notes of a Jacqueline Wilson story of old, with a much more grown up and less-comedic twist.
An easy read that kept my interest over television on many an evening during the past few weeks. I'll be on the lookout for more young adult Jaqueliene Wilsons.

I don't know whether JW has lost her sparkle for me, or like the children in the Peter pan stories I have just left neverland and can't return but this book just didn't do it for me. At 30% in we were only just getting to the crux of the story and I found the characters bland. Not for me sorry.

Jacqueline Wilson never disappoints. This book was amazing and dealt with important themes sensitively. The writing was great and supported the plot really well. The themes were inspiring and I loved reading this book! Overall this was a great read and I would really recommend it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc

I have loved and adored Jacqueline Wilson for as long as I can remember. She is a huge idol of mine, like many people of my generation!
This book is obviously meant for a younger audience, but this didn't affect my enjoyment at all. The book still had the cosines of Wilson's previous books, but obviously had its darker aspects to it as well.

The only downside to this book was its pacing. I felt that the book ended very abruptly which was a shame because it built so well and we got to know the characters really deeply then it just suddenly ended.

This book felt so very real - it felt more like a memoir than a work of fiction. I sped through this and was disappointed to reach the end.

Jacqueline's teenage books are strange creatures. The language and style don't change at all from her younger ones. Even the characters are familiar. This is not a complaint; I'm just making a comment on her writing style.

Laura is a JW Heroine in the Mousy mould. Like most of the Mousies, she has a much bossier friend - but unlike almost every JW Heroine, she is not a fantastic artist! She colours, but she doesn't draw. That skill is given to a minor character instead. Laura has the usual occasional flashes of righteous anger, but mostly she is quiet and introverted.

Of course, the things she goes through would turn anyone inverted. It's strange to think that, relatively speaking, Mother and Baby Homes aren't that far behind us. If Laura were a real person she'd almost certainly still be alive right now. It's also notable that, as such places go, this one is reasonably nice; although they do force all the babies into adoption, they treat the girls as people who have made mistakes, not as wanton women who are already beyond redemption.

As the blurb says, this is definitely a book for older children. Be prepared for questions along the lines of "But it didn't really happen, did it? Not really really?" And sadly, we'll have to say yes. It did.

Great read, well written.

I blitzed through this book over the weekend as I just could not get enough. Light and witty I enjoyed every second. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jacqueline Wilson continues to be a genius. I used to love her books as a kid and as with when I was young she covers some difficult subjects with sensitivity and care. This title gave me a real insight into just how hard it was to be an unwed pregnant (underaged) girl and I compulsively read it hoping it had a happy ending! Definitely a teen read but a really interesting title and after not enjoying the runaways as much this is JW back on top form!

This compelling story shines a light on a time when sex education was non-existent and anyone that didn’t follow the expected norm were blamed & shammed no matter what the circumstances. There were so many girls and women like Laura who were shunned and treated terribly, tossed aside like they were worth nothing. Readers may find the attitudes in this book hard to comprehend with more recent sensibilities but the subjects are handled in a sensitive manner while very quickly drawing you into the swirling emotions of the young main character and the ladies who are forced to give up their babies.

Wilson always treats her audience with respect, she never patronises them and in doing so is an author that we and future readers will always trust. Baby Love is going to make waves in young adult literature, and I can see it opening the eyes and hearts of so many. It’s an emotional read and one that will stay with you for a long time.

Oh my goodness, this was brilliant. Even though this is technically written for teens/young adults, it had some really hard hitting messages and was just as intriguing and enjoyable reading it as an adult.
I was a huge fan of Jacqueline Wilson growing up - I think this would have been a really important read and feels appropriate to have read it during the week of International Women’s Day!

Set in 1959, it’s the story of Laura, a shy and sheltered 14 year old school girl, the only child of two poor and very protective parents. They live in the ‘Shanty Town’ street of pre-fab buildings. Over the course of one summer, her whole life changes. She becomes friends with rich girl Nina and her older brother Daniel, and on one fateful day meets two French exchange students whilst sunbathing at the lido.

What happens to Laura is really sad and at times harrowing and Wilson tells it in such a gripping and heartbreaking way. Laura’s sent away to a special home and it has shades of the Magdalen Sisters (brilliant film!)
The ending literally made me cry and the story has really stayed with me - hearing about the plight of ‘troubled’ girls in that era is really shocking.

I liked the fact Wilson added notes at the end about sexual consent and included links to resources and support. Really important given the audience this is intended for.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Children’s UK for this advance copy. If you have teens, I’d really recommend they read this (and for any adults interested too, it is genuinely a really good read!)

Baby Love is out on 17 March 2022! ♥️

This book really surprised me and I've been thinking about it days after I finished it. Wilson is so talented in telling difficult stories and this book is no different.

I was a huge fan of Jacqueline Wilson growing up and I credit her a lot for my love of reading. Her new book Baby Love is aimed at older readers and was just as magical as the books I remember reading when I was little.

Baby Love is set in 1960 and follows fourteen-year-old Laura. Laura is quiet, shy and often overshadowed by her best friend, Nina. After a fall out with Nina at The Lido means that Laura is left to walk home alone, something happens that will change the course of her life forever.

This book tackles some seriously tough issues - I appreciated that there was a content warning at the very beginning and help and advice at the end, something I think other books and authors should also do. Baby Love touches on consent, sexual abuse, toxic relationships, abortion and so much more. In typical Jacqueline Wilson fashion, she makes them accessible and easy to understand for younger readers without being traumatic.

I would say this book is for mid-to-late teenagers but do bear in mind the content warnings, however as her writing is so brilliant, adults can enjoy it too (I'm 24 and absolutely loved it).

It has been years since I read a Jacqueline Wilson book. Though this deals with heavier topics than the books I read when I was a teenager, it still has that classic Jacqueline Wilson feel.

The second half of the book, when it is revealed the MC is pregnant was heartbreaking. The disgust and judgement piled onto her from relatives and acquaintances made me empathise with anyone who actually had to go through something like this back in the day. The fact that no one really asked her how she got pregnant, and even she couldn’t recognise that she’d been assaulted shows how much things have changed but also in some ways, stayed the same.

This book is aimed at older readers than Jacqueline Wilson’s usual target audience so do beat that in mind.

Thank you to Netgalley & penguin for providing me with an ARC to review.

I’ve always loved the author’s books, and I was excited to jump into her next story.

As always, she portrayed the main character brilliantly — capturing their personality, naivety, and all the emotions she went through during the plot.

The plot was hard-hitting and eye-opening, exposing the trials and tribulations of an important and controversial topic.

We’re left with a better understanding and emotional connection to the characters and a story we won’t forget.

Although a young adult novel, this is something adults can enjoy too, once again proving the author’s rare and fantastic gift for writing and storytelling. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book.

Pregnancy in the 1960's if you were not married was not a nice experience.
i was not looking forward to this read, being a mother myself i could not imagine abandoning my child when they needed me the most.
Jacqueline Wilson is amazing at approaching topics with great thought and care. full of emotions and love and friendship this book is a great read.
A great eye opener to a grey area that is not really spoken about.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly she has done it again. JW will never fail me. This book is set in the 1960s around a girl called Laura (the fact that we share a name is bonus points). Laura becomes pregnant at 14. However, in the 1960s women who are unmarried or young are treated very different to today for becoming pregnant. Laura ends up in a home for women and babies and we follow her story. I won’t give too much away, but obviously there will be a baby in the book at the end!

This book I thoroughly enjoyed, it tackled a tough topic well and gives some extra information at the end of the book about adoption and consent. Both of those themes are a big part of the book, as well as how women were treated in the past.
I find JW’s writing so easy to fall into, I am always immersed in the world and the characters, I definitely felt all the emotions. Also the ending! It could have gone either way and I was so anxious throughout the book to see what would happen.

A very excellent written novel that focus on the 1960s as a time zone but talks about topics still relevant to today. A story of family, adoption, consent, growing up, sex education, friendship and standing up for yourself.

Thank you very much to Penguin Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I couldn't write this review without saying how absolutely surreal it is to have received an ARC of this book. I was such a huge fan of Jacqueline Wilson as a kid and read so many of her books - with hindsight, I've realised just how important the representation of a variety of families and lives was - it felt like a real full circle moment to be reading this book!

This book was fantastic! I was absolutely hooked and read the majority of it after midnight each day, in a frenzy of "just one more chapter" (matching my 11 year old self's experiences of Jacqueline Wilson's books very well!). I found it very immersive - the descriptions of the different houses, working and middle class meals etc made it feel like a very coherent and vivid depiction of the time. Along similar lines, I also really enjoyed the commentary on class and societal stigma that was present throughout the book; it added a lot of depth.

There are a lot of really interesting characters, most of whom are much more complex than meets the eye. Laura, the main character, is very fiery and defiant, but in a very typical 14 year old way - some YA books have characters that don't feel their age at all, so I appreciated this. I also particularly appreciated the way that Laura's relationship was handled, and the way that they weren't entirely villainised for their actions. The other characters - Nina and her family, Belinda and Jeannie, and the others - felt so human.

Baby Love covers a lot of dark topics through the lens of a naive main character, and does it incredibly well. It handles sexual consent, growing up, teenage pregnancy, and navigating difficult relationships (family and otherwise) incredibly well, and I'd really recommend reading it when it comes out!