My daughter has a recommended reading list from school which contain a number of Jacqueline Wilson books, namely Cookie and The Lottie Project. So of we go to the local library and pick up both these books. But there was something in the blurb of both books that struck me - see if you can pick it out.

On Cookie:

Beauty Cookson is no beauty. She's a plain, timid girl surrounded by super-confident, snooty girls at school. Worse than the teasing in the playground, though, is the unpredictable criticism from her father. Frequently berated for breaking any of Dad's hyper-fussy house rules, as well as for her lack of looks, confidence and friends, Beauty lives in uneasy fear whenever Dad's at home. Her pretty, sweet mum is equally subject to Dad's tirades. Eventually, after an unbearable birthday party and a very real fear that Dad's temper is out of control, Mum and Beauty run away. Very soon Mum and Beauty find themselves in an idyllic seaside resort where their new-found freedom and a moment of culinary inspiration give them a hobby, an income and even a new nickname for Beauty. Soon all Beauty's dreams come true - and she deserves it!

The Lottie Project:

I don't want to do a boring old project. Who wants to be like everyone else? I'm doing a diary...
Hi! I'm Charlie (DON'T call me Charlotte - ever!). History is boring, right? Wrong! The Vistorians weren't all deadly dull and drippy. Lottie certainly isn't. She's eleven - like me - but she's left school and has a job as a nursery maid. her life is really hard, just work work work, but I bet she'd know what to do about my mum's awful boyfriend and his wimpy little son. I bet she wouldn't mess it all up like I do...

Hmm, seems like a recurring theme developing. So I checked out some of the blurbs on Wilson's other books.

Floss:

Floss's parents split up when she was younger and she now divides up her week, spending five days with her mum, her mum's new boyfriend and her new baby half-brother. The other two days Floss spends with her dad, helping him to run his greasy spoon cafe. But then their simple arrangement is thrown into disarray when Floss's mum decides to move to Australia for six months. Floss has to choose whether to go with her or stay with her dad. She picks her dad and they muddle along happily together, surviving on chip butties and enjoying visits to the local funfair. But then disaster strikes, Dad's money troubles catch up with him and they have to move out of the cafe. They're homeless - but can their new fairground friends help out?

Lola Rose:

When Jayni, her mum and little brother have to run away from her abusive father, it starts off as a big adventure. They slip out at night, go up to London by train and stay in a hotel. They even make up false identities to protect their secret and Jayni becomes the glamorous-sounding Lola Rose. But when the money runs out and reality bites, is it still a game they should play?

Secrets:

India lives in a large, luxurious house with a mum she can't stand and a dad she adores, though he hasn't had much time for her recently. She seeks solace in her journal, which she keeps in sincere imitation of her heroine, Anne Frank. Treasure lives on the local council estate with her loving and capable grandmother. She is devoted to her nan but lives in fear of having to go back to live with her mother and violent stepfather.

See. The men in Wilson's books are either detached, wimpy or violent and abusive.

With schools bemoaning positive male role models and absent fathers, is it any wonder when children's authors fill kids heads with such negative rubbish?