''Goggle-Eyes'', or ''My War with Goggle-Eyes'' in the US, is a children's novel by

Anne Fine Anne Fine (born 7 December 1947) is an English writer. Although best known for children's books, she also writes for adults. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and she was appointed an OBE in 2003. Fine has written more than se ...

, published by Hamilton in 1989. It features a girl who thinks she hates her mother's boyfriend. In the

frame story A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...

, set in a Scottish

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

, that girl Kitty tells her friend Helen about hating her mother's boyfriend. Fine won the annual Carnegie Medal from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom. It was established in 2002 as a merger of th ...

, recognising the year's best children's book by a British author. She also won the

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annually recognised one fiction book written for Children's literature, children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conf ...

, a similar award that authors may not win twice. Six books have won both awards in 45 years through 2011. ''Goggle-Eyes'' was adapted for television by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 1993.''Goggle-Eyes'' at the Internet Movie Database
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Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

published a US edition under its Joy Street Books

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

in 1989, entitled ''My War with Goggle-Eyes''.

Plot summary

The story is told in the first person, by Kitty Killen. It is set in Scotland in the 1980s, when

anti-nuclear protests Anti-nuclear protests began on a small scale in the U.S. as early as 1946 in response to Operation Crossroads. Large scale anti-nuclear protests first emerged in the mid-1950s in Japan in the wake of the March 1954 Lucky Dragon Incident. Au ...

were prominent in the news. When Helen runs out of the classroom in distress, Mrs Lupey sends Kitty after her, despite the two not being particular friends. Kitty soon realises that Helen dislikes the man her mother is going to marry, so she tells her the story of how she first loathed Gerald, her mother's boyfriend, and how she gradually got used to him, despite his anti- CND views. "Goggle-Eyes"' is the nickname Kitty gives Gerald, because of the way he stares ("goggles") at Kitty's mother. The story is told in a cloakroom cupboard during one morning, with occasional interruptions from Liz and Mrs Lupey.

The characters

*Kitty Killen, a Scottish schoolgirl, the narrator *Rosalind "Rosie" Killen, Kitty's mother, 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 form teacher *Josie, Beth, Ben and others, CND protesters *Inspector McGee, head of the police presence at the protest *Mr Killen, Rosalind's ex-husband *Mrs Harrison, Kitty's and Jude's babysitter *Simon, one of Rosalind's boyfriends *Floss, the Killens' cat

Literary significance and reception

''Goggle-Eyes'' was awarded the Carnegie Medal for 1989 and the

Guardian Prize The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annually recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author ...

in 1990, the two most prestigious British awards for children's literature. It was also shortlisted for the Smarties Award in 1990 and the German Youth Literature Prize in 1993.

Television adaptation

''Goggle-Eyes'' was adapted for television by the BBC as a four-episode mini-series, which was broadcast in 1993. It starred

Honeysuckle Weeks Honeysuckle Susan Weeks (born 1 August 1979) is a British actress best known for her role as Samantha Stewart (later Wainwright) in the ITV wartime drama series '' Foyle's War''. Early life Weeks was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Robin and Susan ...

as Kitty. The screenwriter,

Deborah Moggach Deborah Moggach (née Hough; born 28 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. She has written nineteen novels, including '' The Ex-Wives'' (1993), ''Tulip Fever'' (1999; made into the 2017 film of the same name), ''These Foolish T ...

, won the Writer's Guild Award for Best Adapted TV Serial. Anti-nuclear protests had diminished after the 1991 close of the Cold War so the story was revised to feature a more timely issue,

Green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...

.Author's foreword to the Longman educational edition of ''Goggle-Eyes'', 1996

Notes

References

External links

* —immediately, first US edition () {{Anne Fine 1989 British novels 1989 children's books British children's novels Carnegie Medal in Literature–winning works Guardian Children's Fiction Prize–winning works Novels set in Scotland Novels by Anne Fine Novels about nuclear war and weapons Hamish Hamilton books Children's books set in Scotland Children's books set in schools Children's books set in the 1980s