Just Don't Make a Scene, Mum! (Puffin Teenage Books) - Softcover

Rosie Rushton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140379436 ISBN 13: 9780140379433

Publisher: Puffin Books, 1996

Synopsis

Will Laura get to know the who wrecked his bike at her curb? Find out in "Just Don't Make a Scene, Mum!." "Cool, diverting comedy."--"The London Times."

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

Rushton's new The Fab 5 series starts off as a veritable Bridget Jones's Diary for teens, with all its witty Briticisms intact. Readers will be snagged from the beginning, when a phone-in on the Moan Line of "Hot FM" invites listeners to dial in with "just what's bugging you this week." The five teens here have much to be bugged about. Chelsea is mortified that her mumAhost of the Moan Line, Ginny GeeAwears fuchsia and orange miniskirt ensembles. Laura would like to disappear when her single mother is spotted "snogging" (making out) with her "geek" boyfriend in public. Jemma's mother stocks her wardrobe with clothes "better suited to an unimaginative nine-year-old than a teenager." Jon's father wants him to go on to Cambridge while Jon dreams of attending art college. Sumitha complains that her parents raise her as if they were still living in Calcutta. All five simply must go to under-18 night at the local disco, The Stomping GroundAagainst their parents' wishes. How they get there and the aftermath of their conjoining provide much fodder for entertainment and hilarity, with plenty of pokes at etiquette on the side. The parents are as colorful as their kids, and the generations unite in a common goal: "just don't make a scene." As the novel ends, the quintet heads out for summer holidayAproviding just as meaty a premise for the next installment, I Think I'll Just Curl Up and Die, also releasing in June. Ages 10-up. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10-Two series paperbacks first published in the U.K. in 1995. Book one introduces the "Fab 5": Chelsea, whose mother is a radio "Dear Abby" type; Laura, an overly dramatic budding writer; Jemma, who is new in town and has a mother who can't quite clip the apron strings; Jon, an aspiring artist whose overbearing father has other plans for his career; and Sumitha, a beautiful girl with a strict and traditional Bengali father. This title centers primarily on the teens' subterfuge in escaping to The Stomping Ground, a favorite disco. Will they make it? Will Sumitha's parents find out that they lied? Will the girls get the boyfriends that they want? Will Jemma's mother ever stop calling her "Petal"? So it goes. There is not a lot of depth in this novel, but the plot does move quickly. The next installment is not as lighthearted. Laura's mother is about to have a baby with her "geek" boyfriend. Sumitha falls in love with Bilu, a proper Bengali boy, which pleases her father tremendously. Unfortunately, he is a phony and a cad. Late-bloomer Jemma finally gets a boyfriend-and subsequently dumps him-while spiraling downward into anorexia. Jon fears that his mother is having an affair. The books are typical series fare, and the dialogue-which is full of British slang-seems forced and unnatural. The plots are decent, but not terribly engaging.
Roxanne Burg, Thousand Oaks Library, CA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140379436
• ISBN 13: 9780140379433
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176