The Closest Thing To Crazy

I read The Illustrated Mum, which I got for my birthday, in a couple of days. In fact it could have been shorter if I hadn't left it at a friend's (got a bit tangled up in third conditional.) According to the cover it won several children's book awards around 2000 but for me it didn't feel like an average children's book.

It's told by a 10-year old girl, Dolphin, who lives with her older sister, Star, and 33-year old mother, Marigold. You can guess even from the names that it's kind of hippie stuff. In addition, Mum is a tattoo-freak and constantly unemployed. Each chapter is named after one of her tattoos, and as the story unfolds we learn more and more shocking facts about the way they live. Not only is Marigold a bit liberal and young for a mother, the most important thing for her is to find and reclaim her first love, Micky, who is Star's father. In the meantime she keeps sipping vodka, wearing mini skirts and high heels, and partying into the night. Practically it is Star who takes care of the family, until one day she feels fed up with it.
The book is illustrated by Nick Sharratt, and I liked the drawings a lot. The narrator-protagonist Dolly was also really nice with her all-forgiving love and will to make the best out of her life. The book was even more striking because all the shocking details were told through the naive perspective of Dolly. She wasn't as naive as she acted I think, it was just make-believe, something that children who have to grow up early often do. Despite the circumstances, this is also a book about love and family bonds, without being didactic or sappy.
I have to admit that there were some resemblances to my mother and our life between her divorce and re-marrying. On the other hand it was illuminating to see that we could have been worse off. I mean, she has always provided the basic needs in life such as food and shelter, as opposed to Marigold in the book.
It was certainly worth reading but I can't judge if you (my very few readers) would like it. At least now I see that children's books our not all (and not only) about stupid teen stuff like wearing make up and finding boyfriends.

P.S. I've also found it on IMDb, where you can find practically everything that's been made into a movie.