Unbecoming

Story

Katie feels as though her life is out of control. Her dad has left, her mum seems to control everything, and her best friend thinks she’s a freak. When her estranged grandmother arrives, Katie is charged with looking after her.

In a moving and complex story, Katie learns more about her family history and the secrets within it, including her own.

Why we chose it

A beautifully written and constructed story about three generations of women, about family secrets and the connections between the generations. The developing central relationship between Katie and her grandmother Mary is sensitively drawn as Katie begins to explore Mary’s failing memories.

Where it came from

Without knowing she was doing it at the start, Jenny Downham realised as she wrote, that the story was a very personal one. Her own grandmother had come to stay after having a stroke, and told many stories. Her own mother was also sadly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s during the writing of the book.

Where it went next

Unbecoming was short and longlisted for a number of awards including the YA Book Prize and the Carnegie Medal. It won the Stonewall Honor Award from the American Library Association in 2011. It has also been translated into a number of different languages.

Associated stories

Jenny Downham has written three other YA books: Before I Die, You Against Me and Furious Thing. Before I Die was turned into a film called Now is Good, starring Dakota Fanning, in 2012.