Jacqueline du Pré was a child prodigy on the cello. She made her debut at the age of 16, having been held back by her mother and cello teacher. But once she hit the stage - she became an international star. Her playing was so interpretive that she was often criticized for detracting from the music. However, she also influenced many notable classical musicians of our time with her fervent interpretations of the cello repetoire. Her career as a cellist, however, was short-lived as, at the age of 27, she was diagnosed with MS. Her cheerful demeanor and courageous outlook on life is chronicled here, as are most of her performances.

This biography, while some times reading like a discography of Jacqueline du Pré is a very biased toward du Pré's husband's point of view, but much more even-handed about du Pré than Hilary and Jackie. However, Elizabeth Wilson is herself a cellist and student of du Pré and she makes a lot of assumptions that the reader will also have a thorough understanding of certain musical terminology such as up or down bow or glissando. This is an interesting book, but may be terdious to anyone who does not have a thorough grounding in the cello repetoire, classical music or the playing of a stringed instrument.

A sensitive book on the life of Du Pre as a musician and a person. This book contains detail reviews of Du Pre's playing in concerts. The readers will be Wilson also tell us about her life and struggles apart from her performing life. Good balance biography.

Du Pre-philes are going to be flush with pleasure after reading this. It's a scholarly work that seemingly pins down every concert that Du Pre ever played, often with mini-reviews of the performances. It's far preferable to the trashy "Hilary and Jackie" and does far better service to Du Pre's life and art. Thankfully, the ending segments dealing with Du Pre's illness are short and to the point.

American readers should be aware that this is a VERY "British" book. Wilson uses British spelling and grammar throughout, and assumes a knowledge of the local geography. Like many British writers, Wilson has a charming ignorance of America, and even goes as far as to "correct" our spelling - "The Lincoln Centre (sic)", "Pittsburg (sic)", "The Carnegie Hall (sic)". On page 300, a truck stop in the Midwest is hilariously referred to as a "highway transport cafe."

Recommended for Du Pre's many fans.

I think this book is cool.It will make you keep the book in your hands and not put it down.The charaters are great with each of them having different personalities.
It will make you start reading it again straight after you finished it.

I thought this book was excellent,it was very funny.It had so many funny bits that i had to read it again and again.It is definatly worth a read.

I gave this book 5 stars because it is very good and i love all of Jaqueline Wilsons Books espallaliy this one.You should try to buy it because it is very good and it clams you and it is very funny and you will laugh your head of and it is very good.If you do buy it you would read it every night.

The Mum Minder
By Jacqueline Wilson

This story is about the week in the life of an eight-year old girl called Sadie whose mother is a child minder. Sadie's mother looks after three year old Gemma, two year old Vincent, baby Clive and Sadie's sister Sara. During the week of the school holidays, Sadie's mother gets the flu. This book tells the story of how Sadie helped all the other mums to look after the children in turn by taking them to their workplaces. By the end of the week Sadie's mother feels better but Sadie and Sara catch the flu!

This book is light hearted and has got quite a few laughs in it.
My favourite part is when all the little children pinch the chocolates from Clive's mums shop. I think it is a good book and I would recommend it to a friend of similar age.

I would rate this book 3/5.

Rachel ' From Merseyside

Another GREAT book by Jacqueline Wilson. This one tells the story of Dolphin, her sister, and her mum. When they were little girls, Dolphin & Star loved their mum with all their hearts, Dolphin still does, but she's not too sure about Star. Dolphin always felt that Star was the favourite, even more so now, and she had gotten used to it being that way. But then, Star meets her dad, whom the girls have never met before and Dolphin's whole world gets turned up side down. Will things ever go back to normal? to find out you have to read the book!

This was a relly good book. READ IT!

This is an earlier work by British author Jacqueline Wilson. It is NOT a children's novel. I was really expecting a junior or teenage book, and was surprised to find it was the opposite! The story revolves around certain characters in the book. You have George - who's dominating wife has recently died, Ellen - his secretary who lives with her elderly mother, Lizzie - the vindictive mother of Ellen, katy - a 14 year old school girl with a crush on her art teacher, Matthew - the art teacher and Ginny his wife. I was surprised by the ending, and will look for some more of Jacqueline Wilson's early novels!

This book wasn't as good as i hoped it would of been. Jacqueline Wilson is a women of many talents, this book was just an example of what she can do. DOUBLE ACT, THE SUITCASE KID and THE STORY OF TRACY BEAKER are all amazing books by the same amazing author. GLUBBSLYME was a great book, i give it a thumbs up, and would recommend it to children aged 8-11!

This book is not Jacqueline Wilson's best but it's not far off.It isn't as realistic as some of her others. But then again I think she should write a sequel to it. 4 stars are good!