She fled to her own room, the one she shared with Jimmy and Trix on the far side of the kitchen. She shut the door behind her and stood against it, panting, regaining her breath.

I really enjoyed reading this moving, touching novel, and felt the author knew what she was writing about, by really emphasising the emotions the character Shell was going through.

At times I felt the story slightly slow, but it picked up and kept me reading on, to find out more about Shell's hard life. I felt for her as a real person, not just a character in a book.

Although my life is very different to Shell's I did feel as though I could relate to it all, through her thoughts and actions.

I would really like to see this book as the Carnegie medal winner, although I think it was a feminine book, and most boys might not agree with me.