Ten Things We Shouldn't Have Done by Sarah Mlynowski

Ten Things We Shouldn’t Have Done is the story of April, who gets told one day that she, her dad and her stepmother will be moving from Connecticut to Ohio in a couple of weeks.  She panics - her friends, her boyfriend and her whole life are in Connecticut and she doesn’t want to move to Ohio.  In desperation, she asks to move in with her friend Vi.  The only problem is, Vi’s mum is leaving town for a few months, too.  Will April and Vi be able to swing it so that they get to live parent-free?

I really enjoyed this book.  It probably helps that I was in exactly the right frame of mind for reading it when I did.  It’s the summer holidays and I was in the mood for a not-too-taxing, enjoyable, flim-flam, laugh-filled book, and this one ticked all the boxes.

I liked April and Vi.  April was enjoyably scatty and contrasted nicely with Vi’s responsibility.  I loved that they did dumb things and the way they tried to hide their parent-free lifestyle was like a screwball comedy at times.

I also liked the very frank way this book talks about sex.  I know this might put some people off, but it was actually done in a mature way, with info thrown in on contraception, STDs and the emphasis was on being in a loving relationship.  Okay, so the loving relationship bit didn’t quite go to plan, but still.

The biggest problem I had with this book, and the problem I suspect others may also have, is that it takes a fantastic leap of faith to think that two teenagers, both of whom come from loving, involved homes, would get left on their own in a house for months on end without anyone finding out.  Seriously, April has a fairly protective dad and stepmother, but they seem to be happy with a couple of emails from Vi’s ‘mum’ before letting their daughter go and live with her.

I read the chapter where this happens, and then I re-read it.  And then I just decided to go with it.  I mean, I guess it’s not impossible.  Just pretty implausible.  And I believe crazier things in YA lit - angels, vampires, demons, superheroes, magic spells - so why not this?

Once I just decided to make that huge leap of faith, I really enjoyed the book.  April’s dad is well off, and he gives her $1000 a month to spend on groceries, pay towards bills, buy petrol and as an allowance.  So what’s the first thing she buys?  A hot tub!  Yes!  This really made me laugh, because it’s so exactly what I would have done with $1000 when I was sixteen, and then I’d have just lived on cereal for the rest of the month.

There are plenty of other crazy shenanigans, too.  They get a cat.  Obviously.  They skip school so they can go to the Planned Parenthood clinic.  They lie almost constantly to their parents.  It all makes for a really engaging, fun book with a plot that goes all over the place.  All in all, I’d say this is a great summer read.

4 stars