My Parents Are Sex Maniacs . . . . (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: My Parents Are Sex Maniacs . . . . Deborah Stevenson Harding, Robyn. My Parents Are Sex Maniacs.... Annick, 2009 236p. Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-55451-178-5 $10.95 R Gr. 8–12 Louise’s happy family life falls apart on her father’s fortieth birthday, when he’s caught (at his birthday party) receiving oral sex from the mother of Louise’s best friend, Sienna. Eleventh-grader Louise is already somewhat sensitive about being the oversized non-glam friend of popular Sienna, and this little melodrama adds further strain; when Sienna’s mother dumps Louise’s dad to return to her family, [End Page 399] claiming she was tempted into straying, that’s pretty much an end to the friendship that Louise thought was going to be lifelong. Sienna isn’t out of Louise’s life completely, though: it turns out that Louise’s new best friend, Russell, is secretly seeing Sienna’s ostensibly totally heterosexual boyfriend, a fact that Louise feels Sienna should know—preferably from somebody else. Harding gives Louise’s narration a lively balance between the comic and the poignant: she’s resoundingly credible as a high-schooler trying for a sophisticated view of the world but remaining shocked by “underboobage,” party blow-jobs, and her parents’ antics. Characterization is authentic throughout, from Sienna’s disappearance into the superficial popular crowd in the face of her family’s instability to Louise’s younger brother’s veering between taunting her as a “fat bitch” and turning to her in uneasy solidarity. Harding deftly weaves in plot that might have overbalanced a less well-written novel, with Louise’s mom’s unexpected pregnancy (from a relationship with Louise’s teacher, to add to Louise’s embarrassment) bringing home the “sex maniac” theme. Fans of Susan Juby’s Alice (Alice, I Think, BCCB 9/03) will find in hopeful, flailing Louise a similarly engaging heroine. Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois