’m going to a place called Grand Theatre and I’m going to be a dancer in a pantomime!’

Tess loves to dance, even when everything seems grim. After mum dies and pa leaves, she and her brothers and sisters are all alone, with hardly any food or money. With empty stomachs and scrambling for pennies, they’ve got to fend for themselves.

When Tess’s big brother and sister go out to look for work, she has to stay in class at The Ragged School and take care of their baby sister Ada. But Tess is determined that even though she is poor, she will still get to go to the ball…or at least to dance in the Cinderella pantomime at the Grand Theatre…

A captivating Victorian adventure about family troubles and big dreams from the bestselling Jacqueline Wilson.

JACQUELINE WILSON

Dame Jacqueline Wilson, DBE, FRSL (born 17 December 1945) is an English writer of children’s literature. Because her novels commonly deal with themes as adoption, divorce and mental illness, her work has been called controversial because her readers are young. For her lifetime contribution as a children’s writer, Wilson was a UK nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014.

Wilson is the author of many book series. Her Tracy Beaker series, inaugurated in 1991 with The Story of Tracy Beaker, includes three sequels and has been adapted into four CBBC television series: The Story of Tracy Beaker, Tracy Beaker Returns, The Dumping Ground and The Tracy Beaker Files. In February 2016 will mark the 25th anniversary of Trace Beaker, Wilson will also release a book called The Story Of Tracy Beaker: 25th anniversary.