Jacqueline Wilson surprising a trans fan is the most wholesome thing you’ll see today
Jacqueline Wilson surprising a trans fan is so, so wholesome. (Getty/Canva)
A video clip showing beloved children’s author Jacqueline Wilson surprising a trans super fan is going viral for all the right reasons: because it will make you cry.
In the short clip, originally shared on Penguin UK Books’ TikTok account, a 24-year-old trans Jacqueline Wilson megafan named Charlie gushes over the British author and how her books helped him as a child.
“I am very, very into Jacqueline Wilson books,” he laughs at the video’s start. “I think Jacqueline Wilson had such a big impact on the sort of generation of ‘90s and noughties kids because her books felt real. They weren’t patronising, and they didn’t talk down to children.”
Unbeknownst to Charlie, Wilson, best known for her The Story of Tracy Beaker franchise, is in a room next door to the one in which he’s filming the video for Penguin.
“It sounds like Charlie is my ideal reader,” smiles Wilson as she listens to him talk.
Charlie then holds a copy of Wilson’s 1982 novel Nobody’s Perfect, which the 78-year-old writer had sent to him after he met her at a book signing.
Asked what he’d say to her if she were in the room, Charlie explains that he would thank her for “providing me with a world to escape to, and making me feel seen and known in a lot of books. Kiss was the first time I’d really encountered anything LGBT+.”
He’s then interrupted by Wilson walking in the door, and he reacts in utter, delighted disbelief.
Unsurprisingly, the clip has left hundreds of social media users in floods of tears, as they’re overwhelmed seeing an adored children’s author treating trans people with basic respect and decency, for once.
Sharing the video on X/Twitter, one person wrote: “In a world where JK Rowling exists, be a Jacqueline Wilson.”
A flurry of fellow social media lovers have flocked to share their own memories of how Jacqueline Wilson shaped their childhood, with one person writing: “During my s**t childhood I would escape to the sanctuary of Jacqueline Wilson’s books and was able to resonate with the characters and their own struggles. Amazing author.”
A second wrote: “I’m not even exaggerating when I say I feel Jacqueline played a part in raising me. I love her.”
“Absolutely adore Jacqueline Wilson,” a third wrote. “Charlie has hit the nail on the head. She was and still is so relatable. Jacqueline Wilson provided me a world to feel seen, normal and escape to.”
Wilson’s admiration for a trans fan marks a distinct change in her previous approach to the community.
The Dustin Baby author, who came out publicly as a lesbian in 2020 but has been with her partner Trish since 2002, explained in 2019 that she was “very worried” about the idea of trans youth accessing gender-affirming healthcare.
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