The Lottie Project

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Title The Lottie Project

Cover of the 1997 first edition
Author	Jaqueline Wilson
Illustrator	Nick Sharratt
Cover artist	Nick Sharratt
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Children's novel
Publisher	Doubleday (first edition, hardback)
Released	1 May 1997 (first edition, hardback)
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback) and audiobook
Pages	203 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 978-0385407038 (first edition, hardback)

The Lottie Project is a children's novel by English author Jacqueline Wilson.

Contents 1 Plot introduction 2 Characters in The Lottie Project 2.1 Main late 20th century characters 2.2 Main Victorian characters 2.3 Minor late 20th century characters 2.4 Minor Victorian characters 3 Major themes 4 Awards and nominations 5 Theatrical adaptation 6 Release details 7 References

[edit] Plot introduction

The Lottie Project is a story about Charlotte Enright (Charlie) set in late 20th century England. Charlie is the most popular girl in her school. She assumes she will find history lessons boring but she sees a Victorian photo of a girl who looked exactly like her and from then on she becomes interested in history. Charlie decides to write her history project as the fictional diary of a Victorian servant girl named Lottie.

The novel alternates between the narrative of events in Charlie's life and extracts from the diary.

[edit] Characters in The Lottie Project

[edit] Main late 20th century characters

• Charlotte Alice Katherine Enright, or Charlie, is the most popular girl in her school. She lives with her mother in a flat. She dislikes males because her father abandoned her and her mother. Some boys at her school call her CAKE. She is tall and has long red hair.
• Josphine Enright, known as Jo, is Charlie's mother. Jo was a still teenager when she gave birth to Charlie. She recently worked in an electrical shop until it closed. She then worked as a cleaner in a supermarket and at Mr & Mrs Rosen's house.
• Grandma and Grandpa Enright are Jo's parents, who are unsupportive of Jo because she became pregnant while still a teenager and attending school.
• James Edwards, called Jamie, is the boy Charlie's teacher makes her sit next to in history class. He is intelligent and popular with his teachers. Charlie dislikes him at first, but later they become friends.
• Miss Beckworth is Charlie's year six teacher who is very strict.
• Angela Robinson is one of Charlie's best friends. She falls in love with a new boy band every week.
• Lisa Field is Charlie's other best friend. She falls in love with Dave Wood.
• Mark West is Robin's dad and employs Jo as a babysitter for his young son. Charlie dislikes him. His wife left him and Robin for another man.
• Robin West is Mark's son. Jo is his babysitter. He has a toy bird called Birdie.

[edit] Main Victorian characters

• Lottie is the servant girl who looks identical to Charlie. She left home to work as a nursery maid in the household of a rich family.
• Mrs Angel is the cook in the household.
• Eliza is another maid.
• The Master and Mistress are Lottie's employers.
• Victor is the eldest of Lottie's employer's children. He is six years old.
• Louisa is Victor's four year old sister.
• Freddie is Victor and Louisa's younger brother.
• Frank is Lottie's younger brother.
• Rose is Lottie's younger sister.
• Jessie is Lottie's other younger sister.
• Ada-May is Lottie's youngest sister.
• Lottie's grandparents offered to adopt Jessie after Lottie's father's death.
• Lottie's mum took in washing for local families but couldn't support her family alone.

[edit] Minor late 20th century characters

• Mr and Mrs Robinson are Angela's parents.
• Angela's brothers and sisters
• Mr and Mrs Field are Lisa's parents.
• Jules Edwards is Jamie's older brother.
• Mr and Mrs Edwards are Jamie's parents.
• David Wood is a boy in Charlie's class. Lisa fancies him.
• Mr Raj is a man who works at the newsagent.
• Miss Pease is an old lady who is Jo and Charlie's neighbour.
• Mrs West is Robin's mother, who divorced Mark. She now lives in Manchester.
• Mrs Thomas is Charlie's year five teacher.

[edit] Minor Victorian characters

• Lottie's late father was an alcoholic who died the winter before Lottie went to work.
• Miss Worthbeck is Lottie's teacher who thinks Lottie has 'shining intelligence'.
• Edward James is the oldest boy in Lottie's class.
• Mr Higgins is the bartender at a pub called the Dog and Duck. He begins courting Lottie's mother when Lottie starts work.

[edit] Major themes

The Lottie Project explores how a girl copes with the changes in her life. This novel also contains elements of metafiction.

[edit] Awards and nominations

• 1998, Stockport School's Book Award, winner.^[1]
• 1998, Sheffield Children's Book Award, highly commended.^[1]
• 1998, Children's Book Award, shortlisted.^[1]
• 1998, Oak Tree Award, Nottingham Children's Book Award, shortlisted.^[1]
• 1998, Red House Children's Book Award, shortlisted.^[2]

[edit] Theatrical adaptation

The story has also been adapted for the stage and was performed in 1999 and 2000 at the Polka Theatre, Wimbledon, England.

[edit] Release details

• 1997, United Kingdom, Doubleday, ISBN-10 0385407033 & ISBN-13 978-0385407038, 1 May 1997, hardback
• 1998, United Kingdom, Corgi, ISBN-10 044086366X & ISBN-13 978-0440863663, 4 June 1998, paperback
• 1998, United Kingdom, Chivers Children's Audio Books, ISBN-10 075405036X & ISBN-13 978-0754050360, March 1998, compact cassette
• 2006, United Kingdom, BBC Audiobooks, ASIN 1846070910, 3 April 2006, compact disc
• Also published in other countries

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Kids at Random House, Grown Ups, Prizes & Awards. Random House. Retrieved on 2006-12-31.
2. ^ British Council, Arts, Contemporary Writers, Jacqueline Wilson. British Council. Retrieved on 2006-12-31.