CAN YOU SUE YOUR PARENTS FOR MALPRACTICE?

by Paula Danzinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1979

Ninth-grader Lauren has a stereotypically impossible father (he rails against his wife going to work part-time; he disowns his college-age daughter for moving in with her boyfriend) and, like other Danziger heroines, she has ""typical"" concerns which are projected wholly from her shallow perspective. She complains bitterly of being exploited when asked to set the table or wash the dishes. Her ten-year-old sister Linda is dying for a training bra, so Lauren, remembering how important it was, gives her her old one--in a scene that makes Judy Blume's Margaret seem complex. But Lauren's big problem is the flak she gets from other kids at junior high when she starts dating Zach, who is only in eighth grade and thus infra dig. When an older boy who had jilted her earlier returns complacently, Lauren realizes that she likes Zach and shouldn't worry about what the other kids say. In truth, Zach is a nice kid with some good lines, and Danzinger writes fluently. Her superficial slices of suburbia have a facile appeal, but truly hip kids resent the generalized triviality.

Pub Date: April 30, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1979

Categories: FICTION