Creating a strong narrative voice is hard, never mind about two. But Jacqueline Wilson manages to do so and it’s amazing.

This novel is about two identical twin sisters, Ruby and Garnet. Their lives are turned upside down when their mother dies, and even more when their father gets a girlfriend whom they can’t like. They write their lives in a notebook, telling about their lives and their desires of becoming famous actresses.

Well…

Actually, about Ruby’s desire of becoming a famous actress. One of the things this book does incredibly well is portraying the twins’ completely different personalities. While Ruby is histrionic, outgoing and active, her sister is quieter and prefers doing calm stuff. But Ruby is also the dominant one, which results in her ruling over her sister whenever she wants. And her word is the law. After their father’s girlfriend moves with them, and they all move to a little town where their father can have his dream bookshop, the girls decide to declare war against them. Well, at least Ruby does.

Then Ruby sees her opportunity of becoming a great actress, starring in the TV adaptation of Enid Blyton’s Twins in St. Clare series. Of course, she needs her twin to do so, and despite their parents prohibition, they both go to London for the audition. The problem is that Garnet is not nearly as artistically inclined as her sister, and doesn’t want to be an actress. So, naturally, she chokes in her audition.

Disappointed for not getting the role, Ruby continues looking for something to do. And she finds a boarding school that it’s just like St. Clare’s. And, being the manipulative girl she is, she gets the whole family to go to see it with her, after learning that there’s a scholarship there. Both she and Garnet apply for it, but only Garnet gets in.

Of course, Ruby is furious with her sister (never mind she was the one that pushed her towards it, anyway). So she decides to stop talking to her, cut her hair short and get as different as she can from her sister.

This is a novel about identity, and the steps the sisters undergo in order to get one. The book is narrated using different fonts to represent each of the sister’s writing (who write and draw in the same notebook. Different artists were used for their illustrations), and their voices come up pretty strong. And the book’s form reflects their relationship and how it changes as time goes on. While at first it is very clear that Ruby dominates Garnet, at some point it appears as if Garnet has grown a spine. And in the end, Ruby learns to be more tolerant and begins getting on with her stepmother. As in other Jacqueline Wilson books, the ending here is not closed. We don’t get a complete closure of whatever happened, but we do get a sense that things are going to get better. And that’s the important, thing, if you as me.