I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember. English was my best subject at school and I loved it (so much so I now study it at university). I’d always be that kid in class who would revel in ‘quiet time’ so I could get on with the next chapter of the book I was reading. Books are the perfect companion: on long journeys, while abroad in the sun or even just when you need consoling at 3am… books are always the thing I go back to.
Secrets by Jacqueline Wilson
The memory is very hazy, but when I was six years old I remember seeing a long line outside the book shop in my local shopping centre and being increasingly intrigued. Myself and my mom waited in line and found out it was a book signing by Jacqueline Wilson to celebrate the release of her new book Secrets, a story of two girls Treasure and India and their unlikely friendship. I remember making sure she spelt my name correctly and was in awe of the amount of rings she had on her fingers. Each chapter is told from the other girl’s perspective through their diary entries, with their very different stories eventually intertwining and being a part of the other. This was the first ‘proper’ novel I ever read, and sparked in me an obsession with Wilson’s novels that lasted for most of my childhood.