Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Okay, there’s no maybe about it–I’m definitely not punky enough. To be punky enough, I’d have to BE punky, right? But as much as I did enjoy The First Rule of Punk–and I did–I didn’t love it quite the way I wanted to. Partly it was because I wanted to shake Malu (imagine that accent over the u) AND her mom, because if they’d both made an effort to understand the other’s point of view, well…there wouldn’t have been a book? (Possibly.) I also found myself wondering–is being kind punk? Because if it’s not, then we need to modify the idea of punk. Malu does find her own way there, more or less, but perhaps I just got tired of her holding up the idea of punk to herself so constantly. (Also, if wearing clean clothes isn’t punk, that’s a problem. Your mom objecting to the look of your clothes is one thing; your mom enforcing hygiene expectations is something else entirely.)

I think I may have read this book with one leg in my cranky I’m-41-and-oh-my-GOSH-middle-schoolers pants.

Ultimately, it made me happy to see Malu make friends and stretch herself, and I certainly enjoyed the ranchera music I googled in my eternal quest for more context. (Much more than the Ramones song, I confess.) And while the mother/daughter behavior and relationship frustrated me, I’m certain it’s totally relatable for many. As a mom, I found the lack of consequences for the (admittedly relatively tame) lying troubling, but–anyway. Malu’s journey is a relatable one, and this is a solid read for middle schoolers. I’m looking forward to the virtual discussion with our mother/daughter library reading group!