Description

The Worry Website is Mr Speed the class teacher's idea of a Web site for his primary school pupils to write their worries down anonymously and then get help with solving them from their peers. Jacqueline Wilson has linked the worries of six children in the book through six short stories, and a seventh story is contributed by 12-year-old Lauren Roberts, winner of an online competition. Each story refers to the other class members, so that they do not sit in isolation, and "Greg's Worry", the second story, links particularly well with the first story, "Holly's Worry".

From divorced parents to living with a disability, and from feeling useless at school to nightmares at home, Wilson has sensitively touched on the small and big problems that worry eight and nine-year-olds. Holly's story of wishing her potential stepmother turns out wicked brings a lump to the throat, while William's huge appetite but less huge academic achievements are described with knowing but kind humour.

Lauren Roberts' story "Lisa's Worry" perhaps tells more about the reality of children and their worries than Wilson's own upbeat versionsas Wilson herself says, Lisa's "story ends so sadly". Unlike the other stories, it does not have a resolution and Lisa is evidently not as keen as Holly, Claire, Natasha, Greg et al. to share her concerns with her class or her teacher.

This suggests that a real-life "worry Web site" might not be so avidly subscribed to as Mr Speed's, a reminder that despite Wilson's effortless knack in engaging with children, some worries sadly appear to remain safer when fictionalised or unspoken. However, here's hoping that if there are many Mr Speeds around UK schools no child is going to remain unhappy for longevery reader couldn't help but smile if he was their teacher Olivia Dickinson