10 Things

I read this book by Sarah Mlynowski is one day and am almost disappointed to say that I didn't enjoy it as much as I would like to have enjoyed it.  April is a 16 year old girl, whose father and step-mother are trying to drag her to Ohio mid-semester of her junior year in high school.  Of course April was reluctant to leave her friends, school, and 2-year boyfriend, Noah behind.  Stubborn and unwilling to go with, she developed a plan to lie to her parents, and she would live with her friend Vi.  The only problem with that was Vi's mother was out of town working as the lead role of Marry Poppins. They developed an entire web of frabrications to get away with it, and the story informs readers of all the things they probably shouldn't have done.

Without giving the entire book away, here is a list of the chapters to give a sense as to what type of journey April and Vi go through alone - and by 'alone,' I mean no parents, which doesn't exclude boys and friends along the way.

number one: lied to our parents

number two: played I never

number three: skipped school

number four: bought a hot tub

number five: lost our virginity 

number six: spent three thousand dollars on a donut

number seven: harbored a fugitive

number eight: threw a crazy party

number nine: hosted the mr. teen universe contest

number ten: got caught breaking and entering

what I did (and probably should have done earlier)

The book is a perfect rendition of the desires of many teenage girls my age and things that many girls endure.  Mlynowski efficiently tells the story through her main character, April, with a rather attractive and likeable voice throughout.  April tells her story about being a teenager and everything that comes along with it: school, boys, love, parties, sex, STDs, and friendship.  It is well written and easy to read, as it is broken down into memories at times, and certain parts of the day in April's words.

I didn't like this book that much because I couldn't relate to it very well.  I'm not one of the girls my age that parties and is obsessed with sex (as I thought the girls in this story were). However this book has a great lesson for many teenage girls to listen to, although may be difficult to deny.  We need our parents to guide us through these difficult, confusing, and hormonal times.  Although I personally didn't enjoy this, I would recommend it to any girl my age that needs an easy read.