Goggle-Eyes facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | Anne Fine |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Hamish Hamilton |
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Publication date
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23 March 1989 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover, paperback) |
| Pages | 140 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | 0-241-12617-7 |
| OCLC | 411138475 |
| LC Class | PZ7.F495673 Go 1989 |
Goggle-Eyes, also known as My War with Goggle-Eyes in the United States, is a children's book written by Anne Fine. It was published in 1989. The story is about a girl named Kitty who thinks she hates her mother's new boyfriend. The main part of the story is told by Kitty to her friend Helen at a school in Scotland.
Anne Fine won two important awards for Goggle-Eyes. She received the Carnegie Medal from the Library Association. This award is given to the best children's book by a British author each year. She also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Only a few books have won both of these awards.
Goggle-Eyes was later made into a TV show by the BBC in 1993. In the US, the book was published by Little, Brown in 1989.
What the Story is About
The story is told by Kitty Killen, so you hear everything from her point of view. It takes place in Scotland during the 1980s. At that time, there were many news stories about anti-nuclear protests. These protests were against nuclear weapons.
One day at school, Helen gets upset and leaves the classroom. Mrs. Lupey, their teacher, asks Kitty to go after her. Kitty and Helen are not close friends. Kitty soon learns that Helen is upset because she doesn't like the man her mother plans to marry.
So, Kitty decides to share her own experience. She tells Helen about how she first disliked Gerald, her mother's boyfriend. Kitty nicknamed him "Goggle-Eyes" because of how he stared at her mother. She explains how she slowly started to get used to him. This was even though Gerald had different views on the CND. The CND was a group that wanted to get rid of nuclear weapons.
Kitty tells her story while they are hiding in a cloakroom cupboard. Their conversation is sometimes interrupted by Liz and Mrs. Lupey.
Who are the Characters?
Here are the main characters you will meet in Goggle-Eyes:
- Kitty Killen: A schoolgirl from Scotland who tells the story.
- Rosalind "Rosie" Killen: Kitty's mother, who works as a nurse.
- Judith "Jude" Killen: Kitty's younger sister.
- Gerald "Goggle-Eyes" Faulkner: Rosalind's boyfriend.
- Helen "Helly" Johnston: A classmate of Kitty's.
- Liz: Helen's best friend.
- Mrs. Lupey: The girls' teacher.
- Josie, Beth, Ben, and others: People who take part in the CND protests.
- Inspector McGee: The police officer in charge at the protest.
- Mr. Killen: Rosalind's ex-husband.
- Mrs. Harrison: Kitty's and Jude's babysitter.
- Simon: One of Rosalind's boyfriends before Gerald.
- Floss: The Killen family's cat.
Television Show
Goggle-Eyes was made into a four-episode TV mini-series by the BBC. It was shown in 1993. The actress Honeysuckle Weeks played Kitty.
The person who wrote the TV script, Deborah Moggach, won an award for it. The TV show changed one part of the story. The original book talked about anti-nuclear protests. However, by 1993, the Cold War had ended. So, the TV show changed the protests to be about Green politics instead. Green politics focuses on protecting the environment.
