Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski
Hardcover, 368 Pages
2011, HarperTeen
ISBN: 0061701246
Synopsis
2 girls + 3 guys + 1 house – parents = 10 things April and her friends did that they (definitely, maybe, probably) shouldn't have.
If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Throwing a Crazy Party" (#8), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and, um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) at all is kind of a mystery to them.
In this hilarious and bittersweet tale, Sarah Mlynowski mines the heart and mind of a girl on her own for the first time. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart . . . one thing-she-shouldn't-have-done at a time.
Review
Contemporary YA isn't always my thing, but I loved Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) with a fiery passion. Sarah Mylnowski's writing is real - as wonderful and messed up and loving and heartbreaking as life always is. Mlynowski pulls no punches, allowing for real life consequences to follow common decisions and effect her characters in realistic ways, all while remaining highly entertaining.
Ten Things We Did's chapter structure follows the list of the ten things April and Vi do that may or may not have been the best decisions. Each choice leads them down the path to where they ultimately end up and all are relateable decisions. They lie to their parents. They play I Never. They skip school. They throw a crazy party. They lose their virginity. All are decisions teens are making in their own lives. Sometimes the result is funny. Sometimes the result is awkward. But always, the result is somewhere between possible and probable.
April is a great character and plays off of Vi nicely. While the two live together, April's boyfriend worries that she's becoming to much like Vi, but in reality Vi's influence helps April become who she truly is - beyond her family, her boyfriend or her friends. Much of what April does may seem wrong, but her decisions shape her into who she becomes. Life isn't always clear cut. It's messy and April's experiences perfectly showcase that messy may not be fun, but it isn't the end of the world either.
Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) is a wonderful novel. It's hilarious with just the right amount of uncomfortable mixed in. It was absolutely delightful to read and I'm be looking forward to reading more from Sarah Mlynowski in the future.
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