Socks Are Not Enough...If That's All Your Parents Are Wearing

by Mark Lowery

Mike Swarbrick's life couldn't get any worse. His pervy best friend gets him embroiled in a scandal involving the girls' changing rooms, his idiot of an older brother is snogging the girl of his dreams and he's just come home early from school to discover his parents are secret nudists... but they're ready to go public! A chain of events beyond his control are set to RUIN HIS LIFE. But instead, his teachers think that he's having trouble 'dealing with his feelings'. The result is that Mike's forced to meet with the school councillor who thinks that a 'cool' university professor can fix his problems. And so begins Mike's 'Chats with Chas' which really are as humiliating and cringe-worthy as they sound...

Genres: Humor, Young Adult, Roman, Contemporary

272 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Mark Lowery is the author of seven books for children and young adults, including "Charlie and Me - 421 Miles From Home" and the Roman Garstang Adventures.

Both of his first two books - "Socks Are Not Enough" and "Pants Are Everything" - were shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. "Socks Are Not Enough" was longlisted for the Branford Boase Award, and also won the Leeds Book of The Year Award and the Calderdale Book of the Year Award. "The Jam Doughnut That Ruined My Life" was shortlisted for the Children's Book Award.

He is a primary school teacher and lives near Cambridge with his young family.

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/hellomarklowery

Website:
www.marklowery.co.uk

Reviews

[Moritz Riehn · Rating 2 out of 5]

War ab und zu lustig, ansonsten plätschert es eher vor sich her.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Socks Are Not Enough is a hilarious debut from Mark Lowery and one that I'd recommend to fans of Adrian Mole or the more recent One Seriously Messed-Up Week in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite by Tom Clempson.

14 year old Michael's life is turned upside down the day he comes home early and discovers that his parents are secret nudists. As if the shock of seeing his parents naked wasn't bad enough they've now decided that they want to go out in public. To make matters even worse everyone seems to think that Michael is the one with the problem so he gets to spend his afternoons with the school counsellor to talk about his feelings.

Michael is a fab main character although I have to wonder from his slightly stilted way of speaking if he was slightly autistic. If not autistic then I'd definitely say he has OCD tendencies, he has very set routines and gets very unsettled when things change and he really doesn't like to be looked at or touched. He tells his story part in diary style entries that his counsellor gets him to write and partly through the transcripts of his counselling sessions. I love the way he is constantly creating lists and adding footnotes to his writing to include extra information. You can't help but connect to Michael as he copes with the embarrassment his parents cause him and deals with the fallout from his brother's actions. He really does end up managing to get himself into some awkward situations that take a lot of explaining.

Socks Are Not Enough is a fun, fast read and one that's guaranteed to have you laughing out loud. I can't wait to see what Mark Lowery comes up with next and I hope we get to see more of Michael and his antics in the future.

[Claire Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike the central character is a geeky, awkward 14 year old. His life is a serious of embarrassing events; from his pervy best friend to his older brother who is going out with the girl of Mike's dreams and his nudist parents. Mike's life is definitely not easy! Mike is referred to the school councillor as no one seems to understand the events he is having to deal with, from there he is referred to a 60's throwback University professor. Chas discovers the event that has made Mike terrified of donkey's and nudism, which links to his feelings for Lucy. The book finishes with the reader discovering why 'socks are not enough'

Mark Lowery sums up the angst and trauma of being a teenage boy. There could be nothing worse than discovering your parents were nudists or that your brother is going out with the girl of your dreams. The book is very funny and written in an accessible way. I think it would be perfect for upper KS2 children to read during independent reading. It's very frank and talks about a lot of the feelings that they would also be having, but mostly it's a very funny read.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few months ago I read the Pants are everything. As much as I loved the book I was devastated when I discovered it was the second book! Socks are not enough is the first and I really wish I had read this first. However, despite this it is a really funny book. Lots of laugh out loud moments. Does remind me a bit of the Adrian Mole series.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminding of Adrian Mole and well read by Christian Ulmen!

[Anastassiya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts as an annoying book but the feeling goes away, a not bad story after all

[Ten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can easily understand the words, as English is my second language. The end was shocking, well, for my 14-year-old self (2019).

[Hubcon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audio book. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but I came to enjoy it. I have a feeling it would appeal to a teenager more, or a disolusioned young boy. That said, the story evolved quite well and was entertaining. Some insightful comments by the lead character in some places, seemed out of place for one so young, based on my own knowledge of a similar time in my life. You do have empathy for the main character which helps a great deal. The humour for the situations he is put in made me chuckle. The audio book was well read, but as with most books, the reader only has a limited range of voices, and his lack of feminine vocal cords hindered his portrail of the female characters. I wish the companies who produce these books would use a man and a women, so that a broader range of characters could be audibly realised.

[Tim Roast · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is about a 14-year-old boy Michael Swarbrick who has a lot of stuff going on around him that he doesn't like. His brother is an idiot and is going out with the girl he fancies (or that he admires as he prefers to say) and his parents are nudists. And pretty much because of them he gets himself into many embarrassing situations and gets the blame for a lot of stuff, so much so that he even becomes an "international hate figure". It's pretty funny how he gets into all these situations innocently yet they build and build such that it gets worse and worse for him.

Also the characters are very good. Michael himself narrates the book. His style is for plenty of footnotes and several lists. It works. His best friend is someone who loves his food, loves leering at ladies and is susceptible to making up outrageous stories about himself. The other characters include Michael's mum who is a nudist, his father a more reluctant one, his big bro who is someone who likes to play the field. His swimming instructor is someone who loves to shout and doesn't even remember his name. And that is just naming a few.

One other thing to mention is that the publicity for this book said it was "as wincingly funny as the Inbetweeners". Just to clarify, this book is funny in the same way as the Inbetweeners because of all the embarrassing situations within but it is definitely not as crude so don't worry about that.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it! I loved the style, I thought it was a neat twist on the diary entry format and the transcripts of Michael's 'Chats with Chas' are pretty awesome.

I didn't notice the first time I read it, but Michael doesn't use contractions, not to begin with anyway, it's such a subtle thing and yet it's the kind of character quirk that makes me happy.

There are some great characters in this, although I found a lot of the adults to be ultimately frustrating - especially his mother - because they're all instantly prepared to believe the worst in him.

Still, there were a lot of laugh out loud moments and I highly enjoyed it!

For a slightly more detailed review check out my blog

[Dylan Posa]

UNFINISHED
1. I decided to read this novel as i thought it looked quite humorous and like a 'good read'.
2.I found that Mike was an interesting character, he is living a very odd and embarissing life. He is not the most attractive bloke in fact he is very ugly and a bit of a dork. The reason that i found him so interesting is because No matter what hardships he goes through he keeps pushing on trying to dig himself out of the tricky situations that he gets himself in.
3.
4.this book made me think about how lucky I am to have a normal life without having to go through such hardships and difficulties

[Lisa Birch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminds me a little of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon because of the way it is set out, as a recount, lists, footnotes etc. In this book, Michael is dealing with the fall out of his dysfunctional family. He lives in a tent in the backyard to avoid them, and tries hard to prevent people from exploiting one another. Michael reacts to things happening around him in the most helpful ways, but it doesn't always work. A nice conclusion to a pretty intricate plot.

[Pippin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A witty and deliciously cringe-inducing book. Seen as a flashbacks on a tragi-comedy from the point of view of an adolescent forced into counselling, the hilarious mishap set pieces are tied together by an unlikely hero child with a briefcase. There are some lovely characters and some grotesques, but we never really get to know how the donkey felt about everything.

[Anne Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it with my sons, aged 12 and 10. My 12 year old loved it - he found the content hilarious and the style accessible. This is the first book that he has really engaged with; I'm a very happy Mum! My 10 year old enjoyed it but found the concept of naked parents hugely cringeworthy... which enhanced the enjoyment of my 12 year old even more!

[Verity Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got given this book and the nest one in the series for Christmas and on first impressions they seemed quite childish and not the type of books I would read. However after the reading them I discovered that although not my cup of tea or what I would usually buy they are a light hearted read and actually quite a laugh.

[CatAmongThePages · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun, with some laugh out loud moments, but frustratingly bad cover choice for a bookseller to do anything with. It looks like a book for 8 year olds, reads like a book for 10 year olds but has themes that are better suited to 12+

[Scar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is gripping, funny, well written and exciting. I rooted for micheal from the first page.
I wasn't expecting much at first, thought it was just going to be purely humourous, but to my elation it is actually quite dark.
I loved it.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming book! I felt awful for poor Michael for 99% of the story, but it was hilarious. The fluffy ending is absolutely lovely. And I simply adored Chas and Miss O'Malley! So happy they get married and find happiness in each other! :')

[Faizah Roslaini · Rating 5 out of 5]

kalau parents kau nudist pun kau akan jadi tension mcm dia

[Lilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant .If I could write as well as I can read, I would write book like this.
Witty, not overbearing and despite the main heroes Big issues very normal.

[Kas · Rating 4 out of 5]

As one of the "Michaels" of this world, I was on his side the whole time. Call it OCD, autism, uptight, whatever; he was a great narrator of some bizarre events. Great story.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Fantastically quirky main character, great style and story, lovely children's book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing teen novel about a boy traumatised by his parents becoming nudists.

[Mrs Mallott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty funny! A nice diary-style alternative to Jeff Kinney...

[Stargazer · Rating 4 out of 5]

for older kids, or younger teenagers, - some material not suitable for younger ones, i smirked a few times, sure it would make kids laugh out loud at parts.

[MissStan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story, I liked the style it was written in. Quite a few laughs. I think it would be great read aloud to my class. Going to try that this term.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

So funny. Great for teens who think they have daggy parents :)

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complete fluff, but very entertaining.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious book. I laughed a lot while reading it and often re-read certain parts to my mother.

[Alice Crook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a funny book, written by an amazing author, who happens to be my best friend's uncle! :)