A Mother to Embarrass Me

Now that Laura is 12 years old, she realizes that everything about her mother is totally embarrassing. Like the way she yodels at the top of her lungs while she works (okay, she calls it singing). And plays really old music so loud the neighbors can hear (can’t she listen to normal music?). And walks around in clay-covered pajamas (yes, she is a sculptor, but still . . . ).

But things are about to get much, much worse. Laura has noticed that her mother is getting a little bit, well, fat. Then one night over dinner (at a restaurant, since she almost burned down the house trying to cook), her mother announces that she’s going to have a baby. Now all the neighbors, including the gorgeous boy Laura has a crush on, will know her parents have been doing it. Maybe even in the house! There must be some way Laura can change her mother before her own life is completely, utterly ruined!


From the Hardcover edition.