Clean Break is a best-selling children's novel by Jacqueline Wilson, first published in the United Kingdom in 2005. It deals with the consequences of a father abandoning his family. Plot summary The main character is a young girl named Emily, who lives with her mother Julie, her half sister Vita, and her half brother Maxie in their grandmother Ellen's house. Although her dad is technically only her stepfather, Em and her siblings all love him completely. Em is highly sensitive and is very insecure about her weight. On Christmas Day, Em, Vita and Maxie receive their presents. Vita receives a reindeer hand-puppet called Dancer (owing to the reindeer wearing a tutu and ballet shoes), Maxie gets a set of Caran D'Ache felt tip pens and Em gets an 'emerald' ring. Later that day Em overhears a conversation her dad is having and realises that he is having a secret affair. Em confronts her father, and he owns up to his cheating, and by the next morning he has left. After Em's step-dad walks out, the rest of the family struggle to get along without him. Em, Vita and Maxie are all convinced that Dad will come back. Dad later calls Mum to tell her that he will be taking the kids out on New Year's Day. On New Year's Day, the children go and visit their father, Frankie, at the home of his new partner Sarah, but she is rude, selfish and obnoxious. On a visit they take to a park, Em, Vita and Maxie are astounded to find their Dad passionately kissing Sarah, in a way that he would never do to their mum. Sarah is an aspiring actress and both she and Frankie move to Scotland quite soon into their relationship. When they arrive home, they all reject their Dad's goodbyes. The children all tell their mother that Sarah and their Dad don't get on very well, and will be home soon. Their Mum is quite depressed, and dependent on Frankie for emotional support. Their grandmother does not understand how much the family all love him and would take him back if he ever returned. Emily runs into her biological dad at a fair, and was scared because he had always abused her mother when she was young. Em's Gran decides to take them on a holiday and gets a boyfriend herself. Em also finds that she is