Girls in Love (novel)


Girls in Love is the first book in the Girls series, written by Dame Jacqueline Wilson, DBE, a noted English author who writes fiction for children and young teenagers. It was first published in 1997. The other books in the series are Girls under Pressure, Girls out Late, and Girls in Tears.

Plot summary

The novel is narrated by Eleanor Allard, a.k.a. Ellie. The book opens with Ellie's Family holiday to Wales where she meets a nerdy boy named Dan. Dan falls for Ellie and asks her out but his feelings are not reciprocated and Ellie turns him down. Ellie arrives back at school after the summer holidays to find her best friend, Nadine, has a new boyfriend named Liam, her other friend, Magda, soon asks a boy named Greg out as well. Feeling left out, Ellie makes up a character as her boyfriend, who is a boy that she sees nearly everyday on her way to school. She names him Dan and describes him as a 15 year old handsome boy. Magda and Ellie soon start to think that Liam is using Nadine for sex as Nadine comes to school depressed sometimes. With her big mouth, Magda accidentally mentions it to Nadine which upsets her. But eventually she forgives them both.
One night on Magda's birthday the three girls sneak out to a night club called "Seventh Heaven" and it is revealed that Liam was only using Nadine for sex when they meet some other girls that had been Liam's victims. Liam had planned to break up with her after she 'put out' or, had sex with him. At a friend's party Dan turns up unannounced, and Ellie is mortified. Soon the truth about Dan is revealed to Ellie's friends; however, when gatecrashers arrive at the party and cause trouble, Dan intervenes and saves the day. To Ellie's surprise, this impresses Magda and Nadine and causes Ellie to rethink her first impressions of Dan. The book ends with Ellie and Dan's first kiss in the room.

Characters

The girls

There is also a TV drama series, Girls in Love, which is based on Wilson's book. It was produced by Granada Television and aired on ITV.