The Tulip Touch

The Tulip Touch is a children's novel by Anne Fine published in 1996.

Natalie lives with her family, her Dad who is a hotel manager, and her mother, who lavishes attention on her younger brother Julius. They go to live at a hotel called 'The Palace' and Natalie meets a strange, silent girl called Tulip, cradling a kitten. At first Tulip comes across as a misguided youth with a hard background. But as the story continues Tulip's actions leave us with no excuse. Nobody wants to be around Tulip but her outlandish behaviour doesn't matter to Natalie. At first she finds Tulip exciting and she doesn't care that other people are upset by her pranks. But then Natalie realises that Tulip is going too far.

She becomes Tulip's friend easily and she finds that she is 'addicted' to Tulip. Meanwhile, Tulip just uses Natalie as no one wants to be around her.

An overall great read though slightly disturbing. Not for young children. :)