Sleepovers (book)
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| Author | Jacqueline Wilson |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Nick Sharratt |
| Cover artist | Nick Sharratt |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 2001 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 112 |
| ISBN | 978-0385601818 |
| Followed by | The Best Sleepover in the World |
Sleepovers is a 2001 children's novel by the English writer Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt.
Plot
[edit]The story is about a girl called Daisy and her friends at her new school (in alphabetical order): Amy, Bella, Chloe, Daisy, and Emily (aka The Alphabet Girls). Each girl has their birthday coming up consecutively (in order - Amy, Bella, Emily, Chloe and Daisy), and they all decide that a sleepover party would be a good idea. All the girls are very nice; Chloe however is very spoiled and starts to boss everyone into her ideas and especially torment Daisy. This then enables a sudden fear that Lily (Daisy's disabled 11-year-old sister) would trigger further torment from Chloe.
At Amy's girly sleepover they enjoy lots of dancing, singing, painting their nails together and having a midnight feast. Daisy helps Emily who gets sick and wishes Emily could be her best friend despite that Emily is Chloe's. For Bella's sleepover she takes them all swimming, and they all have fun. They then have a huge tea at Bella's and a blue birthday cake in the shape of a swimming pool. Bella's parents sleep in the spare room and allows the girls to all sleep in their big double bed together.
For Emily's sleepover they all go to the park for a picnic (including playing football whilst Emily's mother gets the picnic together and again at the park). On arrival at the park, Chloe pushes Daisy out of the car on account of Emily's idea of bringing hers and Daisy's teddy bears to the picnic and singing the song The Teddy Bears' Picnic en-route with the others, causing Daisy to scrape her knees and Chloe lied that it was an accident. Emily kindly lets Daisy share her bed and their friendship grows.
Chloe tries to not invite Daisy to her sleepover party by falsely claiming "her Mum won't let her have four invites", but Emily, Amy and Bella refuse to come unless Daisy comes too, causing an argument between them. In the end Chloe gives in and lets Daisy come. At Chloe's party they make pizzas but Chloe sabotages Daisy's pizza by covering it with anchovies which Daisy hates - she then says that they'll make sure Daisy's piece of birthday cake has a special anchovy filling when it comes to cake time, which causes Daisy to decline to eat any. They then watch very scary horror movies which causes Daisy to stay awake all night in fear.
Daisy is afraid of having a sleepover party herself as she fears the girls, particularly Chloe, will be uncomfortable about her sister Lily. She tells her Dad about Chloe and he suggests not inviting her but her Mum insists it's only fair since Daisy went to Chloe's. Daisy's mum then said Chloe had automatically been invited after her mum phoned out of concern after the sleepover because Daisy didn't eat anything and then Daisy's mum told her she would be having a sleepover party herself. When Amy, Bella and Emily meet Lily they are very understanding and kind about her. Chloe is very gloomy and rude when they all play party games together with Daisy's Dad. The girls all sleep in a big tent in the garden and have a lot of fun. Chloe wakes Daisy in the middle of the night to take her to the loo. When they get upstairs, Lily, who is awake, wails loudly upon hearing them and scares Chloe, causing her to wet herself and she decides to return home that night.
When the girls see Chloe again back at school she tells rumours about Lily being a maniac baby. Emily, Amy and Bella stand up for Daisy and Lily and claim that Chloe is the baby (a reference to the wetting incident). Chloe angrily breaks up with them and goes off with another gang of girls. From then on, the girls go around as a foursome and Emily becomes Daisy's best friend.
Sequel
[edit]A sequel, The Best Sleepover in the World, was published in 2023.[1]
Reception
[edit]Miriam Moore from The Spinoff ranked Sleepover as her third favourite novel of Wilson, writing, "God I loved this book. I never owned it but every time I handed it back to the library I put it on my reserves list again (which took months due to its popularity)".[2] Moore thought that the girls calling themselves the "Alphabet girls" and having their names start with the first five letters of the alphabet was very cool and she called Chloe the "bitch-friend".[2] A reviewer from The Guardian said she would recommend the book as it "teaches you that everyone is special" and shows that there are friends to help if "you are bullied", and recommended it for readers between the ages of 7 and 12.[3]
A reviewer from Reading Time believed that the sleepovers in the novel highlighted the themes of "friends and family".[4] They also opined that Wilson is able to "weave important lessons" about life and friendship "with real appeal to younger readers" and noted that Sharratt's "simple line drawings attractively supplement the text".[4] In 2014, Surrey Live included the novel on their list of "previous books which are worth a read".[5] Ella Dove from Good Housekeeping placed Sleepovers on her list of the 10 best Jacqueline Wilson books, calling it a "charming tale of siblings and friendship".[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Magill, Joanna (15 April 2025). "How to read all of Jacqueline Wilson's books in order ahead of her new book release". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 11 July 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ a b Moore, Miriam (20 September 2024). "Every Jacqueline Wilson book I've ever read, ranked from worst to best". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 20 May 2025. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "Sleepovers by Jacqueline Wilson - review". The Guardian. 13 April 2015. Archived from the original on 6 July 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
- ^ a b "Sleepovers (Book)". Reading Time. 46 (4): 41. November 2002.
- ^ Stubbings, David (25 September 2014). "Guildford Book Festival: 10 previous works from the 2014 line-up". Surrey Live. Reach plc. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
- ^ Dove, Ella (16 September 2020). "The 10 best Jacqueline Wilson books, rated by us". Good Housekeeping. Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on 6 July 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.