Clean Break

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In Lola Rose, Nikki fell for Jay and got pregnant with Jayni when she was only seventeen, but Jay began to abuse Nikki shortly after Jayni was born and he eventually turns on Jayni too, forcing Nikki to run away with Jayni and Kenny to protect them from him.

In Baby Love, Laura gets pregnant after (technically) a one night stand with her baby's father. Due to the values of the time period, she doesn't quite understand what sex is or how pregnancy happens (exacerbated by the conception happening in a dark closet space so she couldn't properly see what was happening.) She believes they basically just made out, and is ignorant of what really happened until her pregnancy becomes obvious to others. Broken Pedestal: Phoebe in The Primrose Railway Children looks up to her dad, but she becomes disillusioned and angry when she finds out he's in prison and doesn't even want to visit him. Mr. Harrison from The Illustrated Mum is shown to be quite intelligent, and even manages to stop Dolphin and Oliver from getting into trouble with their teacher. At the end of Emerald Star, Jem tries to propose to Hetty, but she turns him down this way because she knows she can't love him romantically.Marigold mentions that her mother was abusive, and she spent most of her childhood in care homes. She expresses a fear that she is also one later on. Lily and her siblings are forgiving of their mother in Lily Alone, despite the fact that their problems were both directly and indirectly her fault. Social Services and the police, not so much. Book Ends - Queenie begins with Elsie planning to go to the coronation of Elizabeth II with her grandmother; and ends sixty years later when Elsie expresses the hope that she'll live long enough to take her own granddaughter to Prince Charles's coronation. Perry in The Primrose Railway Children sometimes comes across as younger than his little sister Phoebe in some of his behaviours, i.e, demanding to do things right away, repeating sentences over and over, having a meltdown if he gets overwhelmed or completely failing to grasp the danger of entering a tunnel while a train is coming through it. However much of this behaviour is consistent with him being on the autism spectrum and in other respects he can come across as quite mature for his age. Calling the Old Man Out: Knowing full well her father will beat her mother the moment she and Kenny go to bed, Jayni yells at him how she hates him for ruining everything. This is the catalyst that prompts him to hit her for the first time and for Nikki to run away with the kids.

In Love Lessons, Prue's affair with Mr. Raxberry is exposed when Sarah, a student with an intellectual disability, tells everyone that she saw them kissing. Sarah doesn't understand that this isn't supposed to happen, and even Prue (who is otherwise selfish and aggressive) can't be angry with her. Similarly, the epilogue of Baby Love takes place over 60 years after the main story with a now-elderly Laura describing how society's view of teen pregnancy has changed over her lifetime. Girl on Girl Is Hot: Apparently, all the high school boys in Love Frankie think this. When they hear about Frankie and Sally's kiss on New Years, they all want them to kiss again so they can watch. One boy even asks Frankie out just because he wants details. Mandy in Bad Girls is very sheltered and her parents make her dress like a much younger child. As a result, she's noticeably immature for her age, which is part of the reason Kim and her gang bully her.Jailbait Taboo: Some of the other girls in Baby Love are likely to have gotten their children this way, but Sarah in particular tells Laura that her baby's father was a Sunday School teacher. Tragically, she believes she made him do it because he was attracted to her and prays every night to make sure no other men are attracted to her. She may be at the age of consent, but the attitudes of the time make it this.