Best Friends

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Mr. Harrison from The Illustrated Mum is shown to be quite intelligent, and even manages to stop Dolphin and Oliver from getting into trouble with their teacher. In Glubbslyme, Rebecca wishes her school bully would get a terrible illness, only to be horrified when said girl then gets ill. She just hurt her ankle when she was wearing heels, but Rebecca feels terrible about it anyway. A very interesting aversion in Clover Moon: On Clover's first night at the Home, the other girls pour water over her mattress. Clover changes the sheets in the middle of the night, but then becomes worried she might wet it, but doesn't.

Star in The Illustrated Mum mentions having raised Dolphin for most of her life despite only being three or so years older than her. Ambiguously Gay: Mr Benjamin from Dancing The Charleston states that he has no interest in getting married and has a "pal" called Ambrose who stays with him. It's not stated what their relationship is, however, but that may be because the story is set in 1925, when such a relationship was illegal. Book Genre: British Literature, Childrens, Contemporary, Drama, European Literature, Fiction, Kids, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult Cannot Tell a Joke: Elsa in The Bed and Breakfast Star is funny, but she tries to keep her sister happy by telling a bunch of awful jokes. She only begins to make people laugh when she's not trying.Aunt Barbara in Lola Rose is an eccentric woman who wears colourful clothes and has many exciting stories about her life and travels. Jayni/Lola and Kenny see her as this trope, especially when she uses her skill in Thai boxing to get their abusive father to leave. Potty Emergency and/or Potty Failure: Occurs in several books. In Double Act, Garnet is embarrassed about having wet herself on stage during a school play when she was very young. Tracy of the Tracy Beaker series wets the bed at first. It's implied that this happened to Gemma in Best Friends, who references 'the time I thought I could make it home from McDonald's after two large cokes and a milkshake without going to the loo.' Several younger siblings throughout the books also need to pee frequently, often at great cost.

Not Blood Siblings - Jem and Hetty in Hetty Feather were foster siblings, although Jem ends up marrying someone else. At the end of Emerald Star, Jem tries to propose to Hetty, but she turns him down this way because she knows she can't love him romantically.

Karma Houdini: It's mainly due to Rule of Drama, but schools and teachers in Wilson's books get away with murder, at least by modern day standards. Apparently nobody thinks to lodge a complaint against bullying or abusive teachers, so the main characters just suffer in silence. Author Appeal: Wilson is a big fan of The Wizard of Oz and includes many references to it in her books. Characters frequently bring it up as their favourite movie. A lot of the books also involve the protagonist having red as their favourite colour like Wilson. As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children’s Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame. Alice Barlow: Gemma's best friend. In contrast to Gemma she is quite the girly girl, who loves dressing up, ballet and the colour pink. She appears traumatised when she and her parents move away to Scotland, having been parted from Gemma. However, she is spoiled with all sorts of glamorous items in their new home. She makes friends with snobby Flora. She writes Gemma at birthday card at the end of the book.