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 versions--as 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 long--every reader couldn't help but smile if he was their teacher! --Olivia Dickinson

A wonderful collection of linked short stories by our bestselling author.

A wonderful collection of linked short stories by our bestselling author. Lots of the kids in Mr Speed's class have something to worry about. From a new stepmum to coping with Maths, everyone has their own private concerns and it's sometimes difficult to discuss them - even when you need advice. So Mr Speed sets up the Worry Website on the classroom computer. Anybody in the class can anonymously enter their worry and anyone else can type in advice to help out. A unique production for Jacqueline Wilson, coming from a story originally published in electronic form on the Internet, and also containing a brilliant story by a 12-year-old fan, who entered a competition to write a companion story to Jacqueline's.

Jacqueline Wilson:
JACQUELINE WILSON is an extremely well-known and hugely popular author. THE ILLUSTRATED MUM was chosen as British Children's Book of the Year in 1999 and was winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Award 2000. Jacqueline has won the prestigious Smarties Prize and the Children's Book Award for DOUBLE ACT, which was also highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. Jacqueline was awarded an OBE in 2002.

* 'A brilliant young writer of wit and subtlety' THE TIMES
* 'Hugely popular with seven to ten year olds: she should be prescribed for all cases of reading reluctance' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
* 'Has a rare gift for writing lightly and amusingly about emtional issues' BOOKSELLER

Holly's Worry
Type in your worry:
OK.
I think I'm going to get a stepmother.
There are lots of stepmothers in my favourite book of fairy tales. Don't go, 'Yuck, boring!' Fairy tales are seriously cool, much scarier than any X-rated video you've ever secretly watched at a sleepover. Snow White's stepmother is the scariest of all.
She doesn't look scary. She looks beautiful in the picture in my book - though her long queen's robes are spoilt because Hannah tried to colour them with purple wax crayon. I was Furious. I felt like snapping the book shut and smacking Hannah round the head with it, even though she's only little and didn't mean to spoil the picture.
I minded so because it's such a special book. It used to be our mum's when she was a little girl. She gave it to me. Snow White's mum died when she was born so she got this stepmother who looked so lovely that her magic mirror said she was fairest of them all. But she was evil and mean and dead jealous when the mirror said Snow White was the fairest now, so the stepmother tried to have her chopped into bits and then she poisoned her with an apple and she fell down dead and was kept in a glass coffin until a handsome prince came by (yawn!) and brought her back to life. The wicked stepmother was so maddened that she boiled with rage and her shoes stayed so red hot she couldn't take them off and she had to dance until she died.
She must have had awful blisters. I've got one where my old trainers are rubbing. Dad doesn't always get it together when we need new shoes. It's not his fault he's so busy. Yes it is. I'm not making excuses for my dad any more. I can't stick him now. And I especially can't stick her.
I'm going to add to my worry.
I wish she was wicked.
That sounds daft. Mr Speed will think I'm seriously weird. Mind you, Mr Speed is a little bit weird himself. He's speedy, like his name. He whizzes up and down the school corridors, he dodges round the desks in the classroom, and he skips across the playground. He really did skip once when Claire bought a skipping rope to school. He could do all sorts of fancy footwork too - but then he tripped and fell over and said a very rude word. He's not a bit like the other teachers.
This Worry Website is all his idea. It's instead of Circle Time. You know, when you all sit in a circle, fidgeting, and you're meant to discuss your problems. Sometimes it's dead boring because someone like Samantha bangs on about missing her dad. Everyone always feels sorry for Samantha because she's so little and pretty with lovely long fair hair. Even Mr Speed has a special smiley way of looking at her that makes me sick.
Sometimes Circle Time is terribly embarrassing because someone stupid like poor William confides the sort of problem that should stay a deadly secret. He told the whole class that he wets the bed and his dad yells at him and makes him cry and his mum says she can't keep up with washing his sopping sheets. Some of the kids giggled and poor William looked as if he was going to cry again. Mr Speed got very fierce with the gigglers and praised William for being so honest and sensible over a tiny physical problem that happens to heaps of people - but even Mr Speed couldn't stop half the class calling poor William 'Wetty Willie' in the playground.
So maybe that's why he came up with the Worry Website idea.
'I've designed the super-cool, wacky, wicked website on the classroom computer, OK? Any time any of you have a problem then access the Worry Website when it's your turn on the computer and type it in. You don't need to put your name. Then we can all contribute our comments and suggestions - make them kind and constructive or I'll leap up and down on you in my Doc Martens, get it?'
We got it.
Everyone started typing in their worries. Someone had a good long moan about their sneaky sister and their brainy brother.
Someone was worried about being bottom of the class.
Someone wrote about having scary nightmares.
Someone was sad because their pet rat had just died.
One of the boys wrote that he liked one of the girls a lot. That made everyone giggle - and Greg went very pink. Hmm! I wonder who he fancies?
Someone else went on and on. Oh boo hoo, it's so sad, I miss my dad, etc, etc. We all know who that was. At least Samantha can still see her dad when she goes to stay with him and his new girlfriend.
Well, I see my mum. Sometimes. I have to take my little sister Hannah so she can get to know our mum. She left when Hannah was just a baby. Mum had Depression which made her very sad so she cried a lot and then ran off. When she ran off I guess Dad and Hannah and I got Depression too because we all felt very sad and cried a lot as well. It felt very scary when Dad cried so I told him that it was OK. I'd look after him and Hannah now.

2008-01-13 Worried?

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 versions--as 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, etc. 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 long--every reader couldn't help but smile if he was their teacher!