My Parents Are Sex Maniacs: A High School Horror Story Book

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.

School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up

Eleventh-grader Louise has her future all planned. After high school, she and her friend Sienna will move to New York, attend art school, and start a wildly successful fashion business. Then, at their father's 40th birthday party, Louise's younger brother walks in on their dad and Sienna's mother engaging in oral sex. In a rapid succession of events, Louise's parents split, Sienna distances herself from Louise, and Louise finds herself becoming a social outcast. Her only consolations are her set design work for the stagecraft club and her new friendship with Russell, a coworker. However, Louise's social life continues on a downward spiral as her mother dates and then becomes pregnant by Louise's algebra teacher, Russell reveals that he is gay, and she finds herself unsuccessfully trying to keep a devastating secret from Sienna. Somehow it all works out in the end, with Louise looking to the future after high school, remaining friends with Russell, and even coming to a reconciliation with Sienna. This is Harding's first YA novel and at times Louise's narration sounds more like that of an adult woman than a 17-year-old. There are some very funny moments, and the teen's mortification at her middle-aged mother's pregnancy rings true. However, the melodramatic events and humorous narration don't always blend well, and a number of the characters, including Louise's obnoxious brother and Sienna's vapid popular friends, are total stereotypes.-Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ