Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Aanndd here you have it, folks! I’ve been promising to review Hope Larson’s All My Friends for at least a week or two, and today is finally the day. I’m just finishing up my English muffin with pear freezer jam, I’ve got the rest of my chocolate milk, and I turned off my light before midnight and slept like the dead last night, so I’ve got relatively high hopes for my powers of concentration. Which is good, because I’m a little conflicted about this one. (Which appears to have resulted in some mild to moderate spoilers, so be warned.)

So. On the one hand, I thought the romance aspect (I’m calling it that for lack of a better term, even though it doesn’t feel quite right) was handled pretty well. Bina learns a fair bit about what’s important in a significant other, and it doesn’t take her so long that it becomes annoying. On the other hand, the music element of the plot–the more central element–irritated me. Bina is FOURTEEN, which I suppose means her tantrum about her parents’ decision regarding a record deal is understandable, but to most parents, it was obviously the right decision. For her not to agree is realistic, but in a middle grade novel I’d like to see more resolution on the topic. Bina lies to her parents about a whole lot of things, but while she does get in trouble, that feels like an afterthought to the “yes, my music’s going forward!” vibe. Where’s her realization that hey, I made a LOT of bad decisions? Kudos to her for realizing she needed to be honest about going on a date with a new guy, but her (admittedly impressive) efforts to organize in order to further her band’s musical career were all on the down low, and she never seems to get WHY her parents’ decision is the right one. That aspect of the plot just seems to end with her tantrum. As a parent, I don’t really want my 13-year-old to feel like throwing a tantrum and then lying a whole bunch is going to end in her parents being really happy for her, even if she gets grounded. (Not to mention that the grounding seems to be more of a positive step towards her goals than not.) Fourteen is so far removed from adulthood–from the capacity to make mature and rational decisions about emotionally charged subjects–that the music story arc, viewed through that lens, is somewhat painful.

I don’t imagine that the painful-for-parents aspect is going to affect how the book’s target audience feels about it, you understand, but that’s kind of the point. That target audience is going to love the book and root for Bina wholeheartedly, instead of realizing that while making her own record definitely mitigates many of the dangers of signing with a record company at such a young age, the better option would have been to NOT LIE ABOUT IT. Her parents are, quite possible, some of the chillest-while still-caring-and-parenting in all literature; why not have Bina eventually RECOGNIZE that? Because a child’s all-or-nothing attitude towards the bumps in the road is real but not accurate, and recognizing that is an important step towards maturity that I would have liked to see her take.

Clearly I feel strongly about this. You’ll have to tell me what you think!