- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books; New edition edition (2 July 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 033039746X
- ISBN-13: 978-0330397469
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.2 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 261,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A second novel for Young Picador from Whitbread-shortlist star! It's a long, hot summer - and a climactic one. For 14-year-old Sapphire it brings the awesome, terrifying realisation that she is pregnant - a discovery that catapults her into the eye of a storm as her body, her future, her life, become a battleground for everyone's needs but her own. Meanwhile, out in the humid urban night, a mysterious firebug is running wild, working out his own anger and confusion with dramatic consequences. Somehow, from this cauldron of emotion and fear, Sapphire must find a way to take control of her life - and make the most agonising and lonely of choices.
About the Author
Julie Bertagna has had remarkable success in her short writing career. She won a Scottish Arts Council bursary for her first novel THE SPARK GAP. SOUNDTRACK won the SAC's Children's Book Award. DOLPHIN BOY was shortlisted for the NASEN and Blue Peter Awards, and THE ICE CREAM MACHINE is being developed for TV. EXODUS, the launch title for Young Picador and her first novel for Macmillan, has been shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Bertagna's clever use of perspective enables a male reader to empathise with a young girl in a situation he can never experience - teenage pregnancy. Her relationship with Gil, a young social outcast, leads her into a danger which has disasterous consequences.
The amazing thing about this book was that it made me rethink one of my fundamental beliefs, the immorality of abortion. It is this combination of moral discussion and gripping storytelling that make this book such a success.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was brought the Opposite of Chocolate by my mother for my birthday-i waswary, cos she often buys me really depressing books. However, i wasplesently surprised.
The Opposite of Chocolate follows Sapphire. She is14, and becomes pregnant. Naturally, she is shell-shocked, as is herfamily. Her mother wants her to have an abortion, her sister wants her tosell the baby, and her father wants her to keep the child. But she justwants to do what she wants.
This is a thrilling book, and i would really recomend reading it. It istold terrifically well, and i personally loved it.
The Opposite of Chocolate follows Sapphire. She is14, and becomes pregnant. Naturally, she is shell-shocked, as is herfamily. Her mother wants her to have an abortion, her sister wants her tosell the baby, and her father wants her to keep the child. But she justwants to do what she wants.
This is a thrilling book, and i would really recomend reading it. It istold terrifically well, and i personally loved it.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I loved this book because it really outlines the way people think teenagers are too young to make their own choices. When Sapphire falls pregnant she feels trapped and searches for ways to escape her troubles by forming an unlikely friendship with Gilbert Lemon, an unusual boy with many problems of his own.
This book describes the feelings of young love that only those who have experienced it can relate to. I would really recommend this book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
At first I wondered what is the opposite of chocolate? :)
Sapphire is 14 and realises that life isn't sweet like chocolate, but rather a place where she has to grow up faster than she ever expected. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Suze De Silva
Enthralling - a powerful book
Sapphire Dean has just found out she's pregnant and everybody is trying to tell her what to do. As she tries to come to terms with her situation she meets Gilbert, the firebug, and... Read more
Published on 8 Dec 2008 by Chai
it's good but not great
There isn't anything wrong with the plot and the way the book is written: I actually think that switching the third person narrative to each of the characters is a good technique;... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2007 by *~dAydrEamER~*
Intense and uncompromising
"Searing" would be the best word to describe this book. It describes a 'tinderbox' summer, the one you always wanted as a kid when there was no rain, just days and days... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2006 by Star_Sea
The Opposite of Chocolate
What an inspirational book for teenagers everywhere. It follows the life of Sapphire, a pregnant fourteen year old and the choices she faces. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2003
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