Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have)
by Sarah Mlynowski
Imagine, in a bizarre circumstance of child custody, that your mother lives in Paris and your dad gets a job transfer to Cleveland. Rather than leave your friends, high school, and boyfriend, you talk your dad into letting you live out the rest of the semester at a friend’s house with her super-responsible mom. In truth, your friend’s mom is a flighty actress who’s never home, and you and your friend get into an enormous amount of trouble! That’s the premise for the wildly entertaining novel Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have).
Geared for teen readers, the book is relatively clean, with sex references and occurrences, but no explicit descriptions. This novel, separated into sections within sections, feels like you’re watching a television episode. You can envision the cuts and flashbacks, and the one-liners that get fired off before the blackout of a commercial break. It’s fast-paced, witty, and with an internal monologue that never stops amusing you and urging you forward to the next page. I had to force myself to put this book down and let it last a few days. If you like high school-set books that are light, hilarious, and have an under-riding message that lying to your parents isn’t ideal, you’ll like this. This book is not for the ultra rebels or people who truly hate their parents, but it’s definitely for the goody two-shoes who think buying a hot tub, rather than getting a tattoo for example, would be rebellious.
Geared for teen readers, the book is relatively clean, with sex references and occurrences, but no explicit descriptions. This novel, separated into sections within sections, feels like you’re watching a television episode. You can envision the cuts and flashbacks, and the one-liners that get fired off before the blackout of a commercial break. It’s fast-paced, witty, and with an internal monologue that never stops amusing you and urging you forward to the next page. I had to force myself to put this book down and let it last a few days. If you like high school-set books that are light, hilarious, and have an under-riding message that lying to your parents isn’t ideal, you’ll like this. This book is not for the ultra rebels or people who truly hate their parents, but it’s definitely for the goody two-shoes who think buying a hot tub, rather than getting a tattoo for example, would be rebellious.