Jellybean
Tessa Duder
HarperCollins NZ
First pub. 1985, this edition: 2010

August 24, 2021

Jellybean aka Geraldine knows that her mother is different from the mums of the other girls at her school. Geraldine’s mother is a musician who sometimes plays in a jazz band and in an orchestra. Jellybean is a shy character but she also has some hidden courage that we see later.

When a stranger comes into their lives, it starts making her think about her dad who has been absent since she was a kid. Jellybean finds out that this stranger is someone from her mother’s past, which makes this stranger even more mysterious to Jellybean.

Along the way, Jellybean finds what she really wants, after feeling neglected and sad because she is always left to her own devices.

She knows that some things are very important to who you are, and sometimes you have to make some challenging choices.

A message that really stood out to me in this book is that sometimes you have to be prepared to be seen by others, and to speak your mind. Sometimes your courage is stronger than you know.

In conclusion, this book was very engaging and nice to read. I really do think that this should be one of the books on your bookshelf.

• Hannah Richards is 13 and a student at Marlborough Girls College.