Child X [Hardcover]

Lee Weatherly (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Juliet is passionate about acting and has been given the chance to star as the lead role in the play Northern Lights (based on Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass). But at home, her life is not so happy. Her family starts to disintegrate after her father suddenly and unexpectedly leaves home. What exactly is Juliet’s relationship to her flamboyant actor uncle? And what terrible secret is her mother hiding? This is a moving and powerful story of one girl’s search for her own identity, deftly contrasted with the glamour and excitement of the theater.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When her parents' divorce goes from messy to downright weird, a 13-year-old British girl finds that she's no longer Juliet (a.k.a. Jules) Cheney--she's "Child X." This excellent debut novel from Lee Weatherly puts some interesting twists on an otherwise straightforward divorce memoir: The setting alone makes our plucky, put-upon protagonist Jules more compelling (with lively but easy-to-comprehend Briticisms like "I dashed to the loo and hid out there for ages, crying into a wad of rough, horrid loo roll"), and then photographers start popping out from trees and bushes to snap Jules's picture. What's going on here? Could it have something to do with Jules's harried, distant international-financier mum? Or her sweet dad, who writes for "the Beeb"? We're left--like most kids in a divorce--to figure things out on our own, along with poor Jules.

Weatherly shows serious skill for a newcomer, drawing our sympathies this way and that, capturing Jules's inherently unfair age to a tee, and expertly interweaving a theatrical production of Philip Pullman's Northern Lights (known as The Golden Compass in the States and a "stonking great book" in Jules's estimation). And as with Pullman's kid classic, grownups will likely find themselves equally sucked in by Child X's tearful lessons in love and loss. (Brilliant work, Weatherly--you ought to be chuffed.) (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

British author Weatherly packs this first novel with an eyebrow-raising story line. Thirteen-year-old Jules can't believe that her loving father would simply walk out after a particularly angry fight with her mother and not even leave a way for Jules to reach him. In between landing the role of Lyra in a theatrical production of Philip Pullman's Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) and having troubles with her best friend at school, Jules slowly learns the truth. Shortly before Jules's parents' wedding, her mother had had a one-night stand, resulting in Jules's conception, and her father has only just found out. Furious, he sues for damages, including the costs, with interest, that he has incurred in bringing up Jules. The case appears in the paper with Jules's identity masked as "Child X"; shortly thereafter, a newspaper reporter interviews Jules about her role as Lyra, and Jules improbably reveals that she is Child X. Soon Jules is at the center of a media circus, and her plight only worsens when she flips on a TV talk show just in time to watch a guest inform viewers that Jules's natural father is in fact her uncle. Despite the thematic layering (Lyra, too, has been repudiated by her parents), the author's small scope and contrived plotting keep this tale on the level of soap opera but while the handling is jejune, the subject matter seems better suited to adults than middle-graders. Ages 9-14.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: David Fickling Books (June 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385750099
• ISBN-13: 978-0385750097
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,563,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Child X, October 5, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Child X (Hardcover)

Child X is an unpredictable and riveting novel by Lee Weatherly. Child X is about a girl named Jules Cheney, who experience very strange events at age 13. Jules and her best friend Marty, wanted to be in the city play, called "Northern Nights". They auditioned, but only Jules got the part. Marty was jealous and found a new friend, and started ignoring Jules. Meanwhile, Jules faces some harsh family problems. Her dad left, her parents got a divorce. Her dad took everything with him when he left, but only left behind his favourite picture of Jules. One thing that surprised her was that her dad also took her hair brush. Jules went out to find him, and gave the picture to him, but he just got very mad and drove her home. Jules felt confused in life, and her mom wouldn't answer the questions she asked. Later on some weird photographers started leaping out of bushes and snapping pictures of Jules. One day, she found herself in the newspaper, but her name was changed to "Child X". The article was about how her dad found out that Jules was not her real daughter, and demands Jules mother to repay him everything he had given Jules for 13 years. Jules was completely shocked at that. She demanded her mother to give her an answer, but she didn't. Jules got very mad. More and more photographers popped out, so Jules grandmother was with her when she goes to school and to rehearsal for the play. She didn't tell her mom what part she got (which is Lyra), Jules always thought that her dad should be the first to know. Eventually they found out that Jules uncle, on her "father's" side, Derek was Jules real father. At the end, her father realized that even though Jules is not his real daughter, he loved her like one. So he was the only audience that caught Jules attention on stage, during the "Northern Nights" play. I recommend this book to anyone, because the events just come by with a flow, the expressions of characters can keep a reader turning the page, and how it shows how cruel the world is minding your business.
The events in this story come and go very fast, but very rhythmic, as if it was a song. Even though it seems like a very short book overall it contains several events squished together, but the way it was compacted together is very smooth. Somehow the author kept everything together without making it sound like it's jumping all over the place. Even though it did, in a good way.
Since this is a sad story that could happen in life, every character in this story expressed themselves the way normal real life people would. Such as Marty, she was jealous about everything that happened to Jules, even though some events were horrible, because she hasn't experienced it before herself. As for Jules, she just wanted to be left alone, she wants all the photographers and reporters to just leave her alone. She didn't want to be "Child X" anymore, since her parents' divorce is a family problem, she doesn't feel good having other people gossiping about it.
Jules used to have a decent and okay life. Until photographers and reporters started reporting what she does everyday. She felt as if the whole world knows what she does in her life. Jules felt she had no privacy, and that is something that many can relate to if they have or had been gossiped or made fun of about.
Some readers would be engulfed by the book if there are stuff they can relate to in it, because they may find solutions to their problems by reading about how the characters faced their problems. Many readers would be seriously perplexed by text that is jumping all over the place. Child X is an extremely wonderful story containing an unfortunate event in someone's life, it is recommended to any teenager and young adult.

Reviewed by J. Cao

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Good Read, November 13, 2002

By 

G. Guzman "limechiffon" (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Child X (Hardcover)

A book with lively characters, with a strong story line, with fans of "The Golden Compass," with lots of fun British slang---what more could you ask for?

"Child X" is a well-written book, although the story line seemed a bit predictable to me. I could tell what was coming with the divorce, when the main character just couldn't understand why her dad was gone. But I must say, there was a great twist at the end (that I won't give away!) that surprized me and a happy ending after all. Jules is a character with a lot of spunk and a cheeky British vocabulary, which makes the book fun to read and balances out the predicibility factor.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book--just not to older teens who will see through the plot right away.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disapointing, March 10, 2005

By 

Matt Johnson (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child X (Hardcover)

I read Child X expecting a little more than more plot.

I found that the main character running from photographers was less than thrilling. It also had a less than trilling ending. I think that it would have been better if I had read "Northern Lights" it is referred to all through out the book.

I have to say I would not recommend this book