The Tulip Touch

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But Natalie also, is neglected by her parents. yes, it might not seems as obvious and perhaps is not as bad, but her parents do neglect to give her attention. If they had given her the attention she needed and taken a proper interest in her life then maybe they would see the bad influence Tulip had become, maybe they would notice how unhappy their daughter was. So yes, this book makes a point about the adults. It asks if the adults or the children should have helped or prevented the situations. Although other people seem mundane in comparison to Tulip's spontaneity and wild imagination, Natalie makes new friends. Meanwhile, Tulip's behaviour has grown more violent, stabbing bus seats and burning litter bins. When Tulip is not invited to the big Christmas party at The Palace, she manages to burn down the hotel, endangering Natalie's family and their guests. At first sight this has many aspects of fairy tales -- a princess in a palatial dwelling, a changeling-like child whom she befriends, a child-beating ogre figure, mind-reading, and so on -- but don't search for a happy ending, or indeed any ending that is as neatly resolved as fairytales are: this is a story which has much that the reader can believe as being all too realistic, despite some magical trappings. This book was released in 1996, during my transition from primary to high school and it was probably a book that was in the high school library, as the cover feels very familiar. But I don't remember reading it, at least the story did not feel familiar, as I certainly would not have kept reading.

Anne Fine’s work has been translated into forty five languages. In 2003 she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Anne has two grown up daughters, and lives in County Durham. Anne Fine uses simple prose to great effect. The language is usually more dramatic and economical than descriptive. Every sentence is precisely constructed to ensure clear meaning."

About Anne Fine

Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages. Though readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, "a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues. Growing up is a long and confusing business. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny." In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams. Either way, I relish every minute of getting to meet my readers, and part of the reason I appreciate it, Anne, is you. The story begins as Natalie Barnes, a girl who lived in hotels all her life, and her parents move to stay permanently in The Palace Hotel, where her father will be the manager. They meet Tulip Pierce, a charming, introverted girl who tells imaginative yet unbelievable stories - embellishments which Natalie's father refers to as "the Tulip touch". [1] [2] Characters: I adored the characters. Each of them had their own depth, even if there weren't actually that many.

The Tulip Touch grapples with the topical question of what turns children into criminals. It engrossingly chronicles a childhood friendship with a disadvantaged girl who goes to the bad. This novel will make children aged between 11 and 14 think about the dangers of peer pressure and the collective responsibility of society for unhappy children. As always, Fine teaches her lessons by making her readers feel."

At first she doesn't care that other people are upset and unnerved by Tulip's bizarre games, but as the games become increasingly sinister and dangerous, Natalie realises that Tulip is going too far.

She skives off school, cheeks the teachers and makes herself unpopular with her classmates by telling awful lies. The Tulip Touch is a children's novel written by Anne Fine and published in 1996. The book raises questions of morality and accountability, as well as exploring the question of nature versus nurture. It won the Whitbread Award and was Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal.The Tulip Touch provides an insight for children to view the effects certain friendship groups can have, as well as exploring the behaviour of their peers. Why does this person behave in this manner? Is there something in their personal life which could contribute? It is also a book about considering one’s own actions and therefore provides an informative, life-learning, exciting read. And adult readers may also pause to consider how even grown-ups can be powerless to change situations, either because of their own inadequacies or because systems aren't in place to allow justice to be done. Through moral ambiguities, challenges and personal courage we are led along the narrative path this novel hastens to take us. This book looks at the weird and wonderful ideas and actions of Tulip through the eyes of her friend Natalie. The girls attend the same school and enjoy a close friendship, much to the dismay of Natalie’s parents and teachers. Tulip likes to test boundaries, both at school and within her friendship with Natalie. Their friendship is tested on the greatest level when Tulip takes her pranks to extreme heights and sets fire to a shed. Although Natalie knows that this behaviour is wrong, she still does not tell the police about Tulips actions. In the USA, The Tulip Touch was chosen as an ALA Notable Children's Book; the Booklist Editor's Choice - "Top of the List" Fiction; Bulletin, Blue Ribbon List, 1997; School Library Journal's "Best Books of '97"; River Bank Review"Children's Book of Distinction", Arizona Library Association Young Readers Award 200 Nomination.

She doesn't fall into literary clichés with Tulip and has obviously done her research into how (sexually)abused/neglected children will often act (different from common expectation). She also nails Natalie's rabbit-caught-in-headlights car crash helplessness. This is essentially a book about bullying or a very toxic friendship. The toxicity of Tulip's words and attitude most of the time astounded me and the way she manipulated Natalie to do her bidding. But who was at fault really? I couldn't decide by the end. It did seem that Natalie allowed herself to be caught up in Tulip's world, and all the nastiness that came with it. (From their silly little games, to being nasty to the adults, to asking a mother if her dead daughter can come out to play.) But she also managed to cut Tulip out of her life after one particularly nasty incident. But not before what feels like a couple of years have gone by. Anne Fine has the talent for revealing great truths in simple language. Once the reader is hooked on wondering how far Tulip will go and whether Natalie will help her or stop her, it’s hard to stop reading! As well as unfussy sentence structure, the story is chunked into three parts which is then sub-divided into short chapters. It breaks the story into bite-sized chunks so readers can process in between. Invaluable given how much is implied in the gaps between this story.

Preview Book

Typo alert for those of you who mark a book down for typos/editing (I am definitely NOT included in this, I couldn't give a hoot as long as it's readable): there is a fragment of a sentence lurking somewhere in my edition, which I think was supposed to be deleted. Anne Fine has also published eight highly acclaimed novels for adults, including In Cold Domain, All Bones and Lies and Raking the Ashes. The Killjoy won a Scottish Arts Council Book Award and both Taking the Devil’s Advice and Telling Liddy have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Our Precious Lulu is her most recent novel. Tulip creates unease from her first appearance and Anne Fine’s storytelling tightens the unsettling knot chapter by chapter. As Natalie is drawn towards this strange girl and her increasingly bizarre games, the reader realises the danger Tulip presents. urn:oclc:877385881 Scandate 20110601223317 Scanner scribe8.shenzhen.archive.org Scanningcenter shenzhen Worldcat (source edition) urn:lcp:tuliptouchnovel00fine:epub:366553c0-df1b-44d2-afaa-1bbb8e6e9166 Extramarc University of Alberta Libraries Foldoutcount 0 Identifier tuliptouchnovel00fine Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t2g748h6j Isbn 0316283258