My Parents are Sex Maniacs: A High School Horror Story [Paperback]

Robyn Harding (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2009

Louise Harrison's folks are destroying any chance she has of enjoying 11th grade...

Sixteen-year-old Louise Harrison is insecure about a lot of things: her hair, her fashion sense and her "big-boned" build. At least her social status is secure because her BFF (best friend forever), Sienna Marshall, is a certified member of the mega-watt crowd.

But all hell breaks loose when Louise's brother walks in on their father, Len, and her friend Sienna's mother, Sunny, in a flagrantly compromising position. Soon after, Len and Sunny move in together.

When Sunny decides to return home to her family, everyone lays blame for the entire fiasco on one guy, and Louise calls him dad. Louise instantly loses her BFF and is ostracized by the "it" girls at school. Just when it appears things couldn't get worse, Louise's mom announces she's pregnant-and the baby's father is Louise's math teacher!

Wry and melodramatic, smart and spirited, Louise is a typical girl who just wants to fit in. This fun and upbeat novel will captivate readers as they enter Louise's wildly topsy-turvy world.

(20090401)

Editorial Reviews

Review

There are some very funny moments, and the teen's mortification at her middle-aged mother's pregnancy rings true. (Kathleen F. Gruver, Burlington Country Library, Westhampton, NJ School Library Journal )

About the Author

Robyn Harding's six previous humorous novels, including The Journal of Mortifying Moments, have left readers laughing in no less than eight countries around the world. This is her first work for young adults. She lives in Vancouver, BC.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Annick Press (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155451178x
• ISBN-13: 978-1554511785
• ASIN: 155451178X
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,806,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teen Angst, Mean Girls + Embarrassing Parents = A Fun REad, May 18, 2009

By 

Rachel Kramer Bussel "Cupcakes Take the Cake ... (New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: My Parents are Sex Maniacs: A High School Horror Story (Paperback)

This review has some spoilers. Louise Harrison hangs on the fringes of the in crowd at her high school, tolerated by the queen bees because she's best friends with Sienna Marshall...until Sienna's mom performs oral sex on Louise's dad at his 50th birthday party, wreaking havoc on both families. Meanwhile, Louise gets a job at the mall to afford highlights, develops a giant crush, and gets into a fight with her best friend, making her the object of plenty of high school gossip.

While there are a few predictable plot twists, even those are humorous in Harding's hands. There's an interesting story line about teen sexual orientation, with one student in the closet, and to Harding's credit, she paints that part of his situation with sympathy, even though he's otherwise a lout. Louise is a lovable misfit, her parents charming, especially her mom as she embarks on a new relationship, while the brother-sister relationship is one of tough love (and lots of cursing). While there are definitely lessons to be learned here, they're not done in a heavy-handed way, and Harding makes Louise the perfect foil for the obnoxiousness that teen girls specialize in. Louise plays things understated (such as when one girl is "gifted" with the chance to get busy with a certain popular boy) and, as such, wins over readers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Too cute, April 20, 2009

By 

Tina "Tina" (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: My Parents are Sex Maniacs: A High School Horror Story (Paperback)

I love YA and My Parents are Sex Maniacs is perfect in so many ways. First of all, it made me remember how I felt in high school. It seems as though I was , somehow, always mortified by something my parents did (regarldess of what they ACTUALLY did) and reading this book made me go down memory lane.Louise and Sienna are best friends and they both get a nasty surprise, Louise's Dad and Sienna's mom are caught cheating together.

As you can imagine, not only does this have a huge impact emotionally on both girls, it also serves as gossip for those around them and in particular, their peers in school.I loved this storyline, Louise was so incredibly melodramatic at every turn - I mean, yes, she had every reason to be confused and hurt, but she went overboard on the drama and, in many ways, milked this for everything she could. Yet, author Harding wrote the character of Louise in such a way, that throughout, I never stopped loving her as a character. She was at times annoying, funny and sad.One of the strongest points of this book is its humour - despite the very serious topic - and it worked well.

There is a message here - one about wanting to fit in when you are a teenager - and that parents are NOT always right in their own life choices.

I liked this book alot and recommend it .