 | |
| Author | Jacqueline Wilson |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Nick Sharratt |
| Cover artist | Nick Sharratt |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 2001 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 112 |
| ISBN | 978-0385601818 |
| Followed by | The Best Sleepover in the World |
Sleepovers is a 2001 children's novel by the English writer Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt.
Daisy and her friends at her new school – Amy, Bella, Chloe, Daisy, and Emily – are known as The Alphabet Girls. Each girl has their birthday coming up and they decide to have sleepover parties. Chloe, however, torments Daisy, which makes Daisy worried about Chloe meeting Lily, Daisy's disabled older sister. At Amy's sleepover, the girls sing, dance, paint their nails together and have a midnight feast. Daisy helps Emily when she is sick and wishes Emily could be her best friend. For Bella's sleepover, the girls go swimming and then have food and cake at Bella's house. For Emily's sleepover, the girls all go to the park for a picnic. Chloe is annoyed by Emily's idea of bringing hers and Daisy's teddy bears to the picnic and singing the song "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" en route, calling it babyish. On arrival, Chloe pushes Daisy out of the car, causing her to scrape her knees and Chloe lies that it was an accident. Emily lets Daisy share her bed and their friendship grows. Chloe tries to not invite Daisy to her sleepover party by falsely claiming that her mother will not allow her to invite four people, but the others refuse to come without Daisy, causing an argument between them. Chloe eventually gives in and lets Daisy come. At Chloe's party, they make pizzas, but Chloe sabotages Daisy's pizza by covering it with anchovies, which Daisy hates. Chloe then says that Daisy's piece of birthday cake will have a special anchovy filling, which causes Daisy to not eat any. They then watch horror movies, which causes Daisy to stay awake all night in fear.
Daisy is worried about having a sleepover party herself as she fears the girls, particularly Chloe, will be uncomfortable about Lily. She tells her father about Chloe and he suggests not inviting her but her mother reveals that Chloe has already been invited after Chloe's mum phoned out of concern after the sleepover because Daisy did not eat anything, leading to Daisy's mother telling her she would be having a sleepover party herself. When Amy, Bella and Emily meet Lily they are very understanding and kind about her; however, Chloe is very gloomy and rude when they all play party games together with Daisy's father. The girls all sleep in a big tent in the garden. Chloe wakes Daisy in the middle of the night to take her to the bathroom. When they get upstairs, Lily, who is awake, wails loudly upon hearing them and scares Chloe, causing her to wet herself and she decides to return home that night. When the girls see Chloe again back at school, she spreads rumours about Lily being a maniac baby. Emily, Amy and Bella stand up for Daisy and Lily and claim that Chloe is the baby. Chloe angrily breaks up with them and befriends another group of girls. From then on, the girls are friends as a group of four and Emily becomes Daisy's best friend.
An updated version of the paperback edition was released on 13 March 2008, published by Young Corgi. [1] [2]
Wilson enjoyed writing about the five sleepovers in the book and found it fun to pick a different theme for each one. [1] Wilson called Emily a really "sweet girl" but opined that Chloe was "seriously scary" and very horrible to Daisy despite appearing like "butter wouldn't melt in her mouth". [1] She believed that most people knew a girl like Chloe in their lives. [1]
A sequel, The Best Sleepover in the World , was published in 2023. [3]
Miriam Moore from The Spinoff ranked Sleepover as her third favourite novel of Wilson, writing, "God I loved this book. I never owned it but every time I handed it back to the library I put it on my reserves list again (which took months due to its popularity)". [4] Moore thought that the girls calling themselves the "Alphabet girls" and having their names start with the first five letters of the alphabet was very cool and she called Chloe the "bitch-friend". [4] A reviewer from The Guardian said she would recommend the book as it "teaches you that everyone is special" and shows that there are friends to help if "you are bullied", and recommended it for readers between the ages of 7 and 12. [5] Another reviewer from The Guardian found the book humorous and rated it "9 ¾ out of 10." [6] A writer from the same website believed that Wilson was "thought-provoking" rather than "preachy" in the novel. [7] A writer from The Independent opined that the novel had all of Wilson's "hallmarks of humour, good sense and a profound realism". [7]
A reviewer from Reading Time believed that the sleepovers in the novel highlighted the themes of "friends and family". [8] They also opined that Wilson is able to "weave important lessons" about life and friendship "with real appeal to younger readers" and noted that Sharratt's "simple line drawings attractively supplement the text". [8] In 2014, Surrey Live included the novel on their list of "previous books which are worth a read". [9] Ella Dove from Good Housekeeping placed Sleepovers on her list of the 10 best Jacqueline Wilson books, calling it a "charming tale of siblings and friendship". [10] A writer from TES believed that the novel was highly "entertaining", whilst a writer from Waterstones Books Quarterly called the novel "funny and touching" and opined that it encouraged readers to "explore the worries of bullies, disabilities and making new friends". [7]