Now, I've read the book Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix more than once, and I must say, I have found plenty of good and positive things to say about it. From my perspective, it's superbly well-written and awesome, as well as highly inspiring and brilliant. 🏆😊
Basically, the main character, Tish Bonner (who's 15 at the start of the book and turns 16 later), reminds me of myself a bit because, like her, I like expressing my thoughts, ideas and stories through writing and sometimes on my laptop. (Thankfully, my parents are different in a good way, and I have an older brother who is really nice to me.)
However, that's where the similarities end. Tish's parents are shown to be messed up; her dad (Ray Bonner) is charming but abusive, while his wife, Tish's mom (whose first name isn't given), is kind of weak and is unable to stand up for herself. Tish also has a younger brother named Matt, who is seven at the start of the book and turns eight later; despite her being annoyed with Matt sometimes like most siblings do, she shows she's usually fond of him most of the time.
Of course, the character of Bud Turner, Tish's boss at the Burger Boy, was quite well-developed in his own unique way. However, when I read the entry titled "April 7" and got to the part where he flat-out fired Tish, I felt an acutely sharp pang of sympathy for her; had he been thinking clearly, he would've accepted her decision to not go out with him back in the fall, and apologized to her, and then possibly given her either a promotion (such as maybe co-manager), a raise on her salary, or both (as I feel those two things are highly appreciated by those who show they do their best at their jobs with a good work ethic).
Plus, like Tish, I also liked the manager, Mr. Seagrave, as he sounded kind of cool too, and like Tish, I don't know why he hired Bud as her boss either. I felt a slightly acute pang of empathy for Tish when she found out Mr. Seagrave got a new job somewhere else (although it's never fully explained what the new job is or where Mr. Seagrave went), and also felt slightly sickened similar to Tish when she discovered Bud had replaced him as manager.
Eventually, Tish's dad leaves after Christmas for California, and her mother then leaves to go find him two months later on February 12. Then all these bills come in that have to be paid (such as the electric and the heat bill, to name a few), and besides worrying she won't have enough money to pay them, Tish also thinks she has to keep everything secret over her parents leaving.
If there was one part of this book I would view as my favorite, it would definitely be this one:
At least one of the bills, the one for Mom's credit card, kind of solved a mystery. Guess what? All those big presents Dad got us—even that dinner at Shoney's—he put on Mom's credit card. I bet he's the one who took Mom's "missing" Christmas money, too. What a nice guy, huh?
There were lots of other things on the bill, too—lots of bar tabs at the Alibi Inn that I know were Dad's, not Mom's, because Mom can't drink more than one beer without falling asleep. And it looks like the card was maxxed out the day after Christmas. So Dad just left when he couldn't use Mom's card anymore. It wasn't my fault at all.
At least, that's what I want to think. If it's not my fault Dad left, it's not my fault Mom left, either. (p. 88-89)
Finally, on April 30, a day after she and Matt come home from school and discover the electricity is shut off, she decides to tell her teacher Mrs. Dunphrey about her problems, and everything turns out OK for Tish and Matt in the end.
Anyway, this book is superbly neat and awesomely cool, as well as highly inspiring. I highly recommend it, and I give it five stars (although ten stars would be even better). 😊
