Jacqueline Wilson is on top form in a novel to delight her older readers of 12 and above. April, who was abandoned at birth in a dustbin, reaches her 14th birthday. She imagines her mother’s dilemma and yearns for reassurance that her mother still thinks of her.

Bitterly disappointed in her foster mother’s present, April takes off for the day. Visiting previous foster carers, children’s homes and finally the dustbin in which she was left, she pieces her sad life story together. It is a poignant tale, told with Wilson’s characteristic wisdom and humour. Hope and understanding prevail, in an ending that is as happy as it could realistically be.

FIONA LAFFERTY