Book Review: Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski


April does not want to move to Cleveland, so she does what any 16-year-old would do. She convinces her father to let her live with her friend Vi for the rest of the school year. April's father is relived that she has a place to live with a responsible while he moves to Cleveland for a new job. Vi's mother is glad that Vi will have a roommate to share the house while she is in a traveling production of Mary Poppins.

This is the first thing the did: lie. It was a simple lie, and surprisingly easy to pull off. With two fake e-mail addresses, and two parents on different schedules it was easy to convince April's dad that Vi's mom would be there.

April and Vi are looking forward to the freedom that comes from being unsupervised, but of course things don't always go as planned. That's where we start the story: April is in a compromising situation and her dad is making a surprise visit. She has about 15 minutes to make the house look like they have not broken any of his rules, when she is pretty sure they have violated every rule on the list.

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) is a look at the ten things April did while living with Vi. Part "real life" stuff, like learning to cook, clean and make sure a house is in order. Part "fun" stuff, like having friends and boys over for parties, and part "growing up is tough" stuff, like dealing with her parents divorce, her mom living in France, a boyfriend who doesn't seem to be there all the time and a cute new boy who is a bit of a mystery.

April and Vi's experience is just about any teenagers dream. Living in a house, with an income from their parents, and without the supervision. Everything they do has real life consequences, and sometimes April can deal with them like an adult, and sometimes she just wants to run home.

Author Sarah Mlynowski has a knack for finding the "what if" questions teens might have. April does have a lot of freedom, but she also has a lot more responsibility because of it. Her life is not just parties and movie nights. While the book focus on the fun parts of living alone there is also the reality. Fans of books like An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson and Siobhan Vivian's Not that Kind of Girl will enjoy the fun yet realistic look at life with out parents.

I'll see you @ the library!
Katie (Still reading I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan, it's good but I've been busy this summer!)