Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have)

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have)
Sarah Mlynowski
354 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: library
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

When April's father and step-mother decide to move to Chicago, April says no way.  She somehow convinces her father to let her move in with her friend Vi and her mother, who April fails to mention is not going to be living there anymore.  So it's just April and Vi living together in a house.  Typical teenage antics ensue.

I'll be honest - I'm not entirely sure why I liked this book so much.  There were a couple things that annoyed me, mainly the whole character of Vi and a little of April's character, too.  I was a little confused by April because she had a moral compass, but kept fighting against it.  The other thing that annoyed me was the premise - I have a hard time believing responsible parents would let this happen to their child.  April's mother annoyed me, too - she didn't like that her ex-husband allowed April to move in with a friend, but wouldn't even pick up the phone to discuss that, or anything, with him.  Maybe April's parents aren't as responsible as they would have you think.

But besides that, I really did like this book.  It made me laugh and I loved the adopted cat, Donut.  All of the characters had distinct personalities, even Donut, and I love that in a book.  Things really got interesting towards the end of the book when something dramatic happens to April (no, she doesn't get pregnant, but I won't tell you what happens!) and that made the book realistic.  Yes, even though I thought the book would never happen in real life, I also found it realistic.  How's that for an enigma?

And don't go thinking this book glorifies teen sex, because it definitely shows the more horrible aspects of teen sex.

Four stars!  Give it a go!