[In this case, it is me letting go of all of Jacqueline Wilson's books; ultimately decided after rereading 'Hetty Feather'. A lot of them have not aged well, in my opinion, or are just baffling, shocking. I cannot abide the author's child abuse-excusing, fatphobic, internalised misogyny-filled, and sometimes ableist books for children. There are often other other problematic tropes and clichés, too. It doesn't matter if they're childhood favourites, or are "cute and harmless". If I can let go of 'Harry Potter', then I can do the same for these books, no problem. Goodbye, Jacqueline Wilson.]
Final Score: 3.5/5
2021 EDIT: A very good, short reread.
'The Worry Website' was diverse and progressive for its time, dealing with serious issues. Mr Speed is a good teacher sometimes, but in others he isn't. Why does he have to be so mean about poor William? William, who has learning difficulties and has enough low self-esteem as it is? Why is Mr Speed so encouraging, understanding, helpful and funny one moment, but the next he's a prick to his young students? He's capricious. It's to show he's human, I guess.
But while I may not like Mr Speed much anymore, I like all the kids and their relatable problems. My favourite remains Lisa, the one JW didn't create but whose story by a twelve-year-old girl was entered into a competition, which it won, and was put into this book.
Lisa is lovely, kind, selfless, creative, artistic, and mature for her age, but she still loves fairy tales and fantasy, and disappears inside her imagination to escape horrible reality, like me! I felt so sad for her; for her problems at home with her family (content warning: domestic abuse). Thankfully JW may have given Lisa a happy ending in the subsequent story - Natasha's story, where they become friends! I hope she ended up alright, anyway - she deserves to be happy.
Every child deserves to be happy.
A shocking number aren't.
Bless all of the kids of 'The Worry Website'. But I'm glad my own school days are over. A hellish lot of children and teachers can be terrible.
Final Score: 3.5/5
Original Review:
Mr Speed sets up a "Worry Website" for his students, for them to talk about their problems anonymously. And all children have their own problems and issues to deal with. But they don't have to deal with them alone.
What I like about 'The Worry Website' is not only its multiple POV characters, each with their own unique personalities, but how diverse it is. There are POC children, disabled children, and children who are possibly on the autism spectrum (not explicated stated, though). When I was as young as these kids, I admired the mature girl, Lisa, the most (she might have been the character created by one of Jacqueline Wilson's young fans, as part of this pseudo-anthology collection, if I recall). In fact I was invested in all of their stories, and could see in them other children I knew in real life. I could also see them as stars in a TV series.
The teacher, Mr Speed, is such a lovable goofball, and he isn't one-dimensional. He's optimistic and understanding, and surprisingly good at giving advice. He is just the teacher that all frustrated, confused and scared middle schoolers need.
'The Worry Website' is short, simple and a bit dated (computing has changed A LOT since 2002), but it's fun, cute, positive, and contains effective, timeless moral lessons and helpful advice for children. School doesn't have to be a scary place of misery and conformity after all - it is supposed to support and save young people, and this book demonstrates this.
Final Score: 4/5
Final Score: 3.5/5
2021 EDIT: A very good, short reread.
'The Worry Website' was diverse and progressive for its time, dealing with serious issues. Mr Speed is a good teacher sometimes, but in others he isn't. Why does he have to be so mean about poor William? William, who has learning difficulties and has enough low self-esteem as it is? Why is Mr Speed so encouraging, understanding, helpful and funny one moment, but the next he's a prick to his young students? He's capricious. It's to show he's human, I guess.
But while I may not like Mr Speed much anymore, I like all the kids and their relatable problems. My favourite remains Lisa, the one JW didn't create but whose story by a twelve-year-old girl was entered into a competition, which it won, and was put into this book.
Lisa is lovely, kind, selfless, creative, artistic, and mature for her age, but she still loves fairy tales and fantasy, and disappears inside her imagination to escape horrible reality, like me! I felt so sad for her; for her problems at home with her family (content warning: domestic abuse). Thankfully JW may have given Lisa a happy ending in the subsequent story - Natasha's story, where they become friends! I hope she ended up alright, anyway - she deserves to be happy.
Every child deserves to be happy.
A shocking number aren't.
Bless all of the kids of 'The Worry Website'. But I'm glad my own school days are over. A hellish lot of children and teachers can be terrible.
Final Score: 3.5/5
Original Review:
Mr Speed sets up a "Worry Website" for his students, for them to talk about their problems anonymously. And all children have their own problems and issues to deal with. But they don't have to deal with them alone.
What I like about 'The Worry Website' is not only its multiple POV characters, each with their own unique personalities, but how diverse it is. There are POC children, disabled children, and children who are possibly on the autism spectrum (not explicated stated, though). When I was as young as these kids, I admired the mature girl, Lisa, the most (she might have been the character created by one of Jacqueline Wilson's young fans, as part of this pseudo-anthology collection, if I recall). In fact I was invested in all of their stories, and could see in them other children I knew in real life. I could also see them as stars in a TV series.
The teacher, Mr Speed, is such a lovable goofball, and he isn't one-dimensional. He's optimistic and understanding, and surprisingly good at giving advice. He is just the teacher that all frustrated, confused and scared middle schoolers need.
'The Worry Website' is short, simple and a bit dated (computing has changed A LOT since 2002), but it's fun, cute, positive, and contains effective, timeless moral lessons and helpful advice for children. School doesn't have to be a scary place of misery and conformity after all - it is supposed to support and save young people, and this book demonstrates this.
Final Score: 4/5
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