Double Act (novel)
| Author | Jacqueline Wilson |
|---|---|
| Illustrator |
Sue Heap Nick Sharratt co-illustrators |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Yearling Books, Doubleday, Corgi |
|
Publication date
|
1995 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 192 pp |
| Reading age: 9–12-year olds | |
Double Act is a children's novel by Jacqueline Wilson, written in the style of a diary, which features identical twins Ruby and Garnet. Ruby and Garnet love each other dearly but they are completely different. Ruby is loud, outgoing and wild though Garnet is shy, quiet and kind. It was published in 1995, co-illustrated by Sue Heap and Nick Sharratt, and it won both the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (ages 9–11 years and overall) and the Red House Children's Book Award.
Double Act was "Highly Commended" runner up for the annual Carnegie Medal from the British Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. That commendation was approximately annual at the time. The 1995 Medal winner, Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, was named one of the top ten by a panel of experts and was voted the public favourite for the 70th anniversary "Carnegie of Carnegies" in 2007.
The book takes the form of the twins alternately narrating the story of their life in an Accounts book. Ruby and Garnet are ten-year-old identical twins living with their father and grandmother since their mother, Opal, died. The two have always been close despite their differences—Ruby is sociable and dreams of being an actress, while introverted Garnet is content to let Ruby dominate their relationship. The twins have their own secret language, and they don't like to make friends at school because they have each other.When their father gets a new girlfriend [Rose] and a new job, their once stable relationship is thrown into turmoil, as the relationship leads to feelings of betrayal from their father to their late mother, and it comes with a big price—leaving their grandmother behind for a house in the country.
As Ruby is very dominating, she insists that the girls should not stand for their new lifestyle. They get into trouble with the village bullies after throwing mud at them. She and Garnet start off well in school, but once Garnet makes a new friend, Ruby sulks and Garnet quickly changes to stop her feeling upset. After this, they do not behave properly in school and do not talk to anyone else. They never listen to Rose and feel angry and neglected.
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