bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

The Suitcase Kid
Jacqueline Wilson
Andrea, the main character in this book, is upset when her parents divorce and she has to choose who she wants to live with.
How would you feel if your parents decided to divorce and  argued about  custody in front of you? Andrea just wants her family to be happy again.
Andrea, who is usually called Andy, has to decide whether to stay with her mum or her dad.
She is so worried about the custody situation she feels troubled and it begins to affect her schoolwork.
Eventually, Andy comes to her decision but she is afraid to tell her parents she wants to spend one week at her mum's and the next at her dad's.
To make matters worse, she also has a stepfather and a stepmother and stepbrothers and sisters and there are plenty of arguments in both houses.
One Friday, 10-year-old Andy is ill but her dad still comes to pick her up and insists on taking her to his house.
Of course, this makes  her mother angry and her parents' fighting delays her recovery.
The strain of having to take long, boring journeys on various buses to go to school from the different houses takes its toll on her emotions.
Nevertheless, Andy knows it's impossible to have her parents and her happy family life back.
Andy's life is completely changed and she has to adapt to a new way of living.
She has to get to know  new family members  such as her dad's wife Carrie and her mum's new husband, Bill.
She also feels she has lost her privacy as she has to share a room with her stepsister Katie.
Even worse, Katie often  tells Andy's mum lies, claiming Andy bullies her.
Usually, her Mum believes Katie.  Andy feels helpless and hopeless.
Things become worse because when Andy moves from her home Mulberry Cottage, she loses Radish - her pet rabbit - and she misses him very much.
Every day after school she goes back to her old house and sneaks into the garden to look for her rabbit.
One night, she goes out at midnight to look for her pet but gets lost and sleeps on the street overnight. The next day, her parents are very worried and call the police.
They also go looking for Andy themselves. All of her extended family, even Katie, go looking for her.
Finally, her parents find her and they hug tightly. When they try to take her home, Andy insists she wants to find  Radish.
She climbs into the garden and, suddenly, an old couple catches her in the act. However, they are very friendly and eventually become like her grandparents.
Radish comes back and Andy's life changes again.
She finally feels love from her parents and her new family members.



A heartwarming tale of living in an extended family