The Bed and Breakfast Star is a book by
Jacqueline Wilson, originally published in 1994. It revolves around a ten-year-old girl called Elsa who loves telling jokes, and uses humor as a means of coping with her family-her mother, her Scottish stepfather Mac and her younger siblings Pippa and Hank-becoming homeless and having to live in a hotel.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Mac is nicknamed "Mac the Smack" as he's not above using corporal punishment; this MAY however be more
Values Dissonance, as corporal punishment was considered normal at the time the book was published. - Ambiguous Gender: Elsa's teacher Miss Fisher is stated to look more like a man than a woman.
- Animal Motifs:
- Elsa is associated with lions; her hairstyle evokes the appearance of a lion's mane, she's often stated to "roar like a lion", she was named after the famous lioness Elsa and at the end of the book, she sports a jacket with a lion emblem.
- Mac is associated with wild pigs; Elsa calls him a "big hairy warthog" and even claims he sounds like a warthog when he snores.
- The receptionist is often likened to a rabbit for her fluffy sweaters.
- Bathroom Stall Graffiti: Elsa writes insulting jokes about Mac in the women's bathroom.
- Big Eater: Elsa has a big appetite and eats enormous meals when given the chance, as well as thinking about food often. Partly justified in that she's often hungry because her family doesn't have much money for food.
- Big Little Brother: Hank is only a baby, but he is massive.
- Big Little Sister: Elsa's younger sister Pippa is only four but is larger than her.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Elsa views Miss Fisher in this way.
- Bittersweet Ending: More emphasis on the "sweet" part; while Elsa, her family and the other Royal guests are still homeless, they at least live in better accommodation.
- Blatant Lies: When asked to write about herself in class, Elsa produces a WILDLY embellished account, claiming she and her family are touring in the West End; Miss Fisher doesn't buy it for a second.
- Book Dumb: Elsa gets placed in the remedial class at school because she can't keep up with the work, although it turns out she is very intelligent and just struggling because her education has been disrupted so much.
- Cannot Tell a Joke: Despite Elsa's ambition to be a comedienne, she isn't actually very good at telling jokes, and later discovers that people find her funnier when she's not actively trying.
- Cool Old Lady: Miss Hoover, the hotel cleaner, is friends with Elsa and Pippa and treats the guests considerably better than the manager.
- Cool Teacher: Elsa's previous teacher, Mr. Jameson, who she calls Jamie.
- Council Estate: Elsa and her family temporarily lived on one of these.
- Department of Child Disservices: Local authorities place many families, including Elsa's and Naomi's, at the Royal Hotel despite it being obviously unsuitable for young children. They won't move Naomi's family even though her mother has several children under five (including a baby), one of whose asthma is exacerbated by the mould in the hotel. Ultimately, they are only moved somewhere better because the Royal Hotel burned down.
- Disappeared Dad: Elsa's biological father left when she was two years old.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: The manager wears glasses and is a rude, snooty, condescending individual.
- Heroic BSoD: Elsa temporarily goes through this after a TV interview gone wrong, followed by accidentally causing trouble for Mrs Hoover with her graffiti in the women's toilets.
- Hairstyle Inertia: Elsa has sported her mass of wild curls since she was a baby.
- Hell Hotel: The Royal Hotel is a more realistic version of this trope; the hotel is poorly maintained, and the staff are negligent and rude.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Mac's response to domestic problems is to head to the pub for a drink.
- It's All My Fault: Elsa feels terrible for getting Mrs Hoover in trouble with the hotel manager about the graffiti she wrote on the toilet wall, on top of already getting the cold shoulder from Naomi's mum after getting Naomi involved in the TV interview.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: At one point in the book, Elsa's teacher Miss Fisher doesn't even bother to refer to her by name, instead calling her, "That's one of the bed and breakfast children."
- Language Barrier: Elsa manages to befriend a group of South Asian ladies who hang out in the hotel's laundry room, even though they don't speak English and have to communicate with her through gestures.
- Market-Based Title: In the USA, the book was published as Elsa, Star of the Shelter with the Royal Hotel referred to as a shelter for homeless families.
- No Sense of Humour: Miss Fisher, which leads to trouble for aspiring comedian Elsa, as she sees Elsa making jokes as her just being cheeky. Elsa also thinks this about Mac, who just finds her jokes annoying given the circumstances.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Elsa's male friend is known as "Funny Face", and his real name is never revealed.
- Parental Neglect: After moving to the Royal Hotel, Elsa's mother and Mac sleep for much of the day and leave Elsa to take care of Pippa and Hank. They don't really have proper food (since the kitchens are filthy), and Elsa lives off junk food she buys at the newsagent's. Her mother does not even think about putting Elsa in school until social services notice she hasn't been attending.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Elsa and Naomi go through this after the TV interview; they reconcile at the end of the book, though.
- Practically Different Generations: Elsa is ten, Pippa is four and Hank is one. Naomi is the same age as Elsa, but her three brothers are all under five and one of them is a baby.
- Prim and Proper Bun: Miss Fisher's hairstyle is this.
- Red-Headed Stepchild: Elsa is red-haired and The Unfavorite to her stepfather Mack, who explicitly does not consider her one of his children. She is frequently treated as an annoyance by him and her teacher.
- Shared Universe: At one point Elsa and her family go to the Flowerfields Shopping Centre, which is mentioned in a number of Wilson's other books.
- Theme Naming: Naomi and her brothers Nathan, Nicky, and Neil all have names beginning with N.
- Token Black Friend: Elsa's friend Naomi and her family.
- Very False Advertising: The Royal Hotel, despite its name, is overcrowded, filthy and poorly-funded.
