Don't Call Me Baby (Consequences) by Laurie Depp
| Don't Call Me Baby (Consequences) by Laurie Depp | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Zoe Page
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| Summary: Nanny Katie gets more than she bargained for when she goes to work for a celeb family with some deep, dark secrets. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 256 | Date: October 2007 |
| Publisher: Hodder Children's Books | |
| ISBN: 978-0340930397 | |
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Katie is a newly qualified nanny when she lands her dream job, looking after the two children of Britain's latest It couple, a footballer and his high-profile wife. If you can skip past the unlikeliness of it (why would people in that position hire an inexperienced 18 year old to watch the kids?) you might be surprised by how interesting and well-written this book is. It shouldn't be a surprise, though, if I first tell you that this book has all the ingredients for a top read: a likeable heroine, a fish-out-of-water story about a small town girl trying to take on London, a dubious ex-boyfriend and some colourful characters, especially the WAGs. Add in some serious skeletons in the closet, a group of loose-lipped friends and some persistent tabloid journalists, and that simple nanny job is not looking so simple anymore. Looking after the children is one thing, but sampling goody bags, going shoe shopping with the boss and trying to keep a family together were certainly not in the job description.
I thought the story did well to keep me interested from day one of the interview process right through the first year in the job. After a while you could imagine it becoming a bit dull - tales of things the kids have been up to, what they've said, where they've been - but the special family Katie is working for means there are all sorts of anecdotes not related to the care of the children, be it a description of their plush mansion, or tales of the other staff they have. I also thought the story was realistic, and Katie's previous job au pairing in Italy at age 17 mirrored exactly one of my previous jobs of, um, au pairing in Italy at age 17.
Katie is a nice, normal girl who is the sort of 18 year old you could imagine most parents being happy for their children to be - she has a decent job, she doesn't smoke or drink or party to excess, she has honest values, she doesn't even get down and dirty with her on-again off-again boyfriend. The book is fun because you get to see this weird and wonderful new world of celebdom through some very normal and sometimes quite naïve eyes.
This is the first book in a series, and though I've not read the others I get the impression that each one is going to follow the lives of a different teenager and the actions and consequences in their lives - at the end of this book, a photo is taken which is the link in to the next book, The Camera Never Lies about a young photographer.
Thank you to the publishers for supplying this book. It's definitely one for those who like Heat etc as the chapters are littered with "articles" on the couple. For another look at the footballer / WAG lifestyle, you might enjoy The WAG's Diary. If you're interested in the Nanny and the celebrity lifestyle then you might also enjoy The Nanny by Melissa Nathan.
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