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sqeeker's review
2.0
- I think I'm a little old for this book. I probably would have appreciated it more when I was twelve.
- Laura is really whiny, and she is SO mean to her mother. I can't believe some of things she says and thinks. I just wanted to smack her!
- I can see why Laura thought a couple things her mom did were embarrassing. The loud music and the dancing in front of her friends would turn my face red too.
- The ending was lame. There wasn't really any conclusion. Laura and her mom didn't reconcile anything. There wasn't really a point to the story.
- Laura is really whiny, and she is SO mean to her mother. I can't believe some of things she says and thinks. I just wanted to smack her!
- I can see why Laura thought a couple things her mom did were embarrassing. The loud music and the dancing in front of her friends would turn my face red too.
- The ending was lame. There wasn't really any conclusion. Laura and her mom didn't reconcile anything. There wasn't really a point to the story.
absentminded_reader's review
3.0
A Mother to Embarrass Me is a cute peek inside a small Utah town where a preteen, named Laura, struggles with life. Unfortunately for Laura, her mother is a former model and the belle of the town. This causes grown men to fawn over her, which is quite embarrassing for Laura. In addition, her mother is fairly bad at domestic activities, which inspires Laura to create a massive list of things to change about her mother. The crushing blow, however, is that Laura's mother is pregnant. This means that her parents have actually been "doing it" in the house, which for some reason wasn't a bad thing when Laura's conception was involved. This, however, is not something that occurs to Laura, nor would it for a girl of her disposition.
My oldest daughter went through this stage when she was in sixth grade. She was hotly embarrassed by anything family related. She acted as if our every foolish move was being filmed and broadcast into the homes of her peers. It was a terrible time to live through and nearly broke my heart.
Perhaps this is one reason I never fully enjoyed the story, aside from the fact that I am not a twelve year old girl embarrassed by my parents. Carol quite perfectly captured the negative misery of this young girl. Although her parents were undeniably embarrassing, the daughter was too bitter, and I never really liked her. I kept waiting for her to throw me a bone and give me a reason to root for her. She redeemed herself in the end, but for me the wait was just a bit too long.
Overall, however, I found the characterization wonderful, the narrative voice strong, and the story charming. If you have a daughter who wears dark sunglasses and a large hat every time she is in public with you, or is ashamed by your pregnancy, I imagine she would identify well with this book.
My oldest daughter went through this stage when she was in sixth grade. She was hotly embarrassed by anything family related. She acted as if our every foolish move was being filmed and broadcast into the homes of her peers. It was a terrible time to live through and nearly broke my heart.
Perhaps this is one reason I never fully enjoyed the story, aside from the fact that I am not a twelve year old girl embarrassed by my parents. Carol quite perfectly captured the negative misery of this young girl. Although her parents were undeniably embarrassing, the daughter was too bitter, and I never really liked her. I kept waiting for her to throw me a bone and give me a reason to root for her. She redeemed herself in the end, but for me the wait was just a bit too long.
Overall, however, I found the characterization wonderful, the narrative voice strong, and the story charming. If you have a daughter who wears dark sunglasses and a large hat every time she is in public with you, or is ashamed by your pregnancy, I imagine she would identify well with this book.
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