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Teen EastEnders #1
Solid Ground
112 pages, Paperback
First published November 20, 1986
18 people want to read
About the author
Hugh Miller
42 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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April 16, 2012
Yes, I'm so ridiculous that I'm not only reading the EastEnders novels, but have in fact picked up the spinoff line focusing on the teen characters as well! Impressively, they're written by the same author, so the quality remains high, and I'm pleased to see that he didn't feel the need to dumb down his writing style for the younger set. (The only concession appears to be a shorter work: about 110 pages as opposed to about 170.)
Notably, it's the first EE novel that's actually set in the present-day time of the show itself - autumn 1986 - rather than being set some number of years in the past. (I'm interested to see whether that's something the main line of novels ever catches up to and replicates.) This first novel is about Sharon, adopted daughter of Den & Angie Watts, and specifically follows her quest to try to track down her birth parents. This was, frankly, kind of a shock; the decision to have Sharon be an adopted child would seem to imply the eventual narrative of finding out where she came from, and I assumed this was something that would necessarily be saved for the show itself. And while her quest is ultimately less than successful, it's still the driving force of the novel, and something she spends a lot of time and energy on. Is this in fact the only time the character pursues this course? Or will Sharon eventually renew her detective work at some point in her televised future? I've no idea! (I could look it up on Wikipedia, of course, but I'd rather save the potential surprise as I continue to watch the olden years....)
In any case: I wondered if the "teen" line could maintain the high quality of fun, breezy entertainment that the EE novels have consistently shown. I'm pleased to say the answer is yes!
Notably, it's the first EE novel that's actually set in the present-day time of the show itself - autumn 1986 - rather than being set some number of years in the past. (I'm interested to see whether that's something the main line of novels ever catches up to and replicates.) This first novel is about Sharon, adopted daughter of Den & Angie Watts, and specifically follows her quest to try to track down her birth parents. This was, frankly, kind of a shock; the decision to have Sharon be an adopted child would seem to imply the eventual narrative of finding out where she came from, and I assumed this was something that would necessarily be saved for the show itself. And while her quest is ultimately less than successful, it's still the driving force of the novel, and something she spends a lot of time and energy on. Is this in fact the only time the character pursues this course? Or will Sharon eventually renew her detective work at some point in her televised future? I've no idea! (I could look it up on Wikipedia, of course, but I'd rather save the potential surprise as I continue to watch the olden years....)
In any case: I wondered if the "teen" line could maintain the high quality of fun, breezy entertainment that the EE novels have consistently shown. I'm pleased to say the answer is yes!
Displaying 1 of 1 review