Carolyn Mackler

The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler is a refreshing, validating, hilarious look into what wives do for their husbands and kids - and what happens when they've had enough!

Lauren, Sophie, and Madeline are long-time friends and divorced/separated wives and mothers. Experiencing the daily grind of juggling full time employment and running a household, they feel beaten down, exhausted, and burnt out. This trio comes together often to lament the struggle of being a mom and the constant demands that show more are put on them, despite having an "active parent" in their children's lives. While channeling the feelings of EVERY MOTHER ALIVE, the ladies decide to create The Wife App, an iPhone app that would allow spouses to hire out the mundane tasks that bombard them, from completing school applications, picking up dry cleaning, and even flying their kids cross-country to stay with another parent!

Full of laughter and insight, this novel had me nodding along and empathizing with the characters. It's about time that spouses understand what a "default parent" goes through and this book accurately details the experience while also bringing a light, comedic aspect that allows readers to relax and have fun with it. Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely and desperately wish I had a Wife app that would save me too. show less

This is one of those books that begins with a great premise: Emma, a teenager in 1996 Pennsylvania, accesses the Internet on her new PC for the first time and somehow is able to access her Facebook account fifteen years in the future. As she explores her future life, she discovers that her changing attitudes can affect her future as well, while her inclusion of her next-door neighbor and onetime best friend Josh into her confidence opens up new understandings about himself as well. Now some show more people might complain that this idea isn't explored as fully as it could have been -- that Emma didn't do what any sensible teenager living in 1990s America would have done, which was to discover which stocks she should invest in, or which international leaders she should assassinate, or something like that. Such complaints, though, miss both the constraints of the premise (she can only access her Facebook account and not the entirety of the Internet in 2011) and what this novel really is, which is a study of two teenagers on the verge of adulthood who gain a unique understanding for what those relationships will be like. It's touching and mature in many ways, and while the ending is hardly a surprise it's a journey that is definitely worth reading. show less

In spring 2023, in New York City, Mason writes a letter to Albert Einstein on his therapist's request, and throws the letter in his closet...where it disappears, only to be replaced by a reply letter from Talia, who lives in Pennsylvania in 1987. Once Mason and Talia have ironed out what's going on (closet wormhole for letters), they get down to the business of learning about each other's lives and helping each other with their problems. They set smart ground rules - no last names, no show more googling anyone - although Mason does supply some Yankees' scores so Talia can win bets with her older brother and get out of doing dishes for the week.

Household chores aren't the problem, though. Talia is dealing with a best friend who's pulling away from her to embrace being a cheerleader instead, and who won't defend Talia against anti-Semitic boys in her school. Mason misses his dad but is angry at him for leaving, worried about his mom's increased drinking, and also dealing with bullying at school, from a former baseball teammate. Seasoned with humor and a shared love of baseball, and finished off with a sweet final letter from 48-year-old Talia, this speculative novel is a total delight.

See also: You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly

Quotes

I have a hard time not saying things that are true. (Talia, 29)

...what's cool changes all the time. (Mason, 37)

Meanwhile, I have to sit through Mrs. F teaching "Lord of the Flies" yet refusing to stop the bloodthirsty boys in her own classroom. (Talia, 119)

"People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." (Mason quoting Einstein, 159)

"Life is not about keeping away the bad stuff or only hoping for the good stuff. Because you can't control that. It's how you deal with the good and the bad that will define what kind of life you're going to have." (Mason's therapist Barb, 201)

You're right, the future is confusing. Or maybe every time period is confusing. Maybe being a person on this planet is confusing. (Mason, 219) show less

It starts off as another painful and humorous tale of teen angst, but “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” turns out to be more as we get to know Virginia Shreves. Virginia knows she is fat. Not heavy like her perfect mother likes to refer to her, or extra-large like her perfect older brother calls her, but fat. There is also a perfect father and perfect older sister. Perfect means thin, beautiful, and fluent in French. Virginia looks and acts nothing like the rest of her show more family and is positive she was switched at birth. Somewhere a large blond family has a thin brunette teen. To make matters worse, her best friend is spending the year away in Walla Walla, Washington. Then one day, an “ordeal” happens to her family and Virginia starts to realize that her family is not so perfect after all, and that she, Virginia, was too quick to doubt herself. Told in the first person, Carolyn Mackler has smart adult perceptions about teens their emotions yet writes in a voice that appeals to the younger generation. show less