Child imaginative and sensitive – plays imaginative games, vomits after seeing film about Japanese at war and has nightmares afterwards. Seems something of a loner – does not join in games played by big groups at school – instead plays with one ‘bookish’ boy and another who is an outsider. Invited to Paula’s party only because ‘it was for all the children in the block’. Paula invites her to play tag only because ‘we need someone else’
Paula picks on her quite unfairly because she wants someone to blame for her spoilt snowsuit. The other children join in, so girl feels isolated. Feels safe at home but when Mr. Sterling comes to tell about the damage, her mother says, ‘Why didn’t you tell me that you pushed Paula in the mud?’ The girl is not asked what happened first, so feels that her mother is believing the lie without hearing her side of the story. Uncle Frank comes to her room in a friendly, understanding way, but by then the girl is feeling miserable and is unable to say what happened in a natural way. When Uncle Frank says they will pay for a new suit anyway, she probably feels that even he does not believe her. This episode, plus the war and probably her father’s death, changed the girl’s life for ever – she grew up and the world seemed a gloomier place (final paragraph).
Kiss Miss Carol
Joli is completely different to the girl in the first story. Although he was born in England, his family are immigrants from Bangladesh. His father does not really fit in – he speaks Bengali to the boy, wears traditional clothing (unlike the children even of some other immigrant families). He has his own religion and village life at home is still so important to him that he sends his elder son home to sort out a dispute. The family eat traditional food (lentils). He cannot read English very well so, although he looks at Joli’s school books every day to see how he is doing, Joli knows that he cannot really understand them. The family do not have much money and so take on sewing work – there are two sewing machines in the house and the family work on them in the evenings. If it comes to a choice, working for money is regarded as more important than school. They live in a poor part of London and suffer racial harassment from people living nearby, so that their mother seldom leaves the house.
Joli is different. He is one of the best readers in his class and is given an important part in the school play, where he acts along with both English and immigrant children. He is embarrassed when his father comes to the school and looks different from other parents. School is important to him and so is being in the play. His father thinks differently and feels that it is insulting for his son to play a boy who is both poor and lame. Joli’s parents seem stricter than the parents of the girl in the first story; their children are told what they must do and are expected to get on with it without argument. The girl in the first story is keen to please her mother and her uncle and is upset when she feels that they do not believe her. Joli seems more anxious to please his teacher and is willing to lie to his father if it will mean that he can be in the play.
