What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

The Writing on the Wall
This topic is about The Writing on the Wall
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SOLVED: Children's/YA > SOLVED. British YA, 80s or 90s, group of teens visit Amsterdam, "diamond in a dustbin" [s]

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message 1: by Rachel (new)

Rachel | 1527 comments A British teen book which I read in the mid 90s but could have been published a little earlier. It was about a teenage girl whose boyfriend doesn't treat her very well. She ends up torn between the boyfriend and her male friend who is much nicer. Towards the end of the book she visits Amsterdam with both boys and a female friend (who may be a punk?) There is a moment when she discovers her female friend is taking the contraceptive pill and asks if she can have one, and her friend has to explain that's not how it works!

Both boys give her gifts which she sees as symbolic of how they feel about her. I think one gift was a hair clip. She says at one point that true love is "like finding a diamond in a dustbin" and I always thought that sentence was the title of the book, but I can't find any trace of it online.


message 2: by Rachel (last edited Oct 28, 2014 03:10AM) (new)

Rachel | 1527 comments Bump

The main character used to write poetry, one quote I think I remember is:

"You talk a lot of rubbish, our whole romance was trash
I'm glad we shared the pipe dreams, but you can keep the ash"

Needless to say I have googled these lines to no avail! Shame I can remember very specific quotes but not the title...


message 3: by Anna (new)

Anna | 207 comments This is The Writing on the Wall by Lynne Reid Banks.


message 4: by Rachel (new)

Rachel | 1527 comments Yes it is! Thank you :)


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