From Tracy Beaker to The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson has long written about difficult childhoods. In Baby Love (Penguin, £12.99), her first novel aimed at teenage readers for several years, she tackles the thorny topic of teen pregnancy. Laura is a painfully naive 14-year-old in suburban 1960 when, flattered by the attentions of a French exchange student, a fateful walk home changes her life for ever. Fearful of societal shame, her parents send her to a mother-and-baby home to have the child and give it up for adoption. Wilson, who writes about the lives of girls with such compassion, is particularly perceptive on the complexities of friendships and the realities of the British class system. Heartbreaking, yet full of warmth and hope.
Also tackling big themes with a light touch is Christine Pillainayagam, a new voice in teenage fiction with her debut, Ellie Pillai Is Brown (Faber, £8.99, May). Fifteen-year-old Ellie describes herself as “somewhere between invisible and not very cool”, stumbling through the classic teen tribulations of first love, friendships, school and parental expectations, underpinned by the challenges of being brown in a very white town. An aspiring songwriter, Ellie’s favourite song lyrics are peppered throughout the book as she strives to find her own voice.
