Excerpt: 'The English Roses' by Madonna
Oct. 1 -- In her first children's book, Madonna — who has adopted a series of provocative, controversial and trend-setting looks throughout her pop music career — sends out a message to her young readers: Don't judge people by their appearance.
The English Roses is the story of four schoolgirls growing up in contemporary London who decide to shun another girl, the beautiful Binah, who they dismiss as stuck up. But then a fairy godmother teaches the girls a big lesson about judging others.
Here is an excerpt from pages 20 to 21:
The English Roses looked around the room at one another. Amy was the first to speak. "She thinks she's God's gift to creation just because she's beautiful."
"Yes, why should we invite her over? She gets enough attention already," Charlotte joined in.
"It's not that we don't like her," said Nicole. "It's just that she's probably stuck up. Pretty girls usually are."
Nicole's mother thought about this for a moment, and then she said, "I think you girls are being unfair. She looks like she could really use a friend, and you haven't even had a conversation with her. How do you know what kind of person she is? How would you like it if people decided whether they were going to be nice to you based on how you look?"
Excerpted from The English Roses by Madonna with illustrations by Jeffrey Fulvimari. Published by Callaway Editions, Copyright, Sept. 15, 2003.
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