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The Parent Problem
Skye Green's mum is driving her insane! When she's not posting EMBARRASSING pictures of Skye online or experimenting with BIZARRE clothing, she's forever taking up new hobbies - and her latest obsession is ballroom dancing! It's only a matter of time until she waltzes down the street in spandex and sequins - and to make matters worse, Skye's younger brother is wildly (and irritatingly) enthusiastic about Mum's new hobby, and about wearing Mum's sparkly new outfits!
As if this wasn't HORRIFIC enough, Skye's mum has also enlisted the new neighbour's son to come and 'babysit' when she's at dance class, and he's only a year older than Skye! Talk about MORTIFYING in the EXTREME! At least Skye's best friend, Aubrey is there to help Skye cope with her family's madness. They've been friends since before they can remember, and nothing will ever, EVER change that . . . right?
As if this wasn't HORRIFIC enough, Skye's mum has also enlisted the new neighbour's son to come and 'babysit' when she's at dance class, and he's only a year older than Skye! Talk about MORTIFYING in the EXTREME! At least Skye's best friend, Aubrey is there to help Skye cope with her family's madness. They've been friends since before they can remember, and nothing will ever, EVER change that . . . right?
240 pages, Paperback
Published March 24, 2016
1 person is currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Anna Wilson
88 books29 followersAnna Wilson lives in Bradford on Avon with her husband, two children, two cats, some chickens, some ducks, a tortoise and a dog. She is the author of The Puppy Plan, Pup Idol, Puppy Power, Puppy Party, The Kitten Hunt, Kitten Wars,Kitten Catastrophe, Monkey Business, Monkey Madness, I'm a Chicken, Get Me Out of Here!, the Pooch Parlour series, The Great Kitten Cake Off and The Mortifying Life of Skye Green series - all for Macmillan Children's Books " " " "She has also written Summer's Shadow for older readers.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 28, 2023
I LOVED this book. it’s all about how it’s easy to grow up to fast and along the way you lose friends even one’s who have been with you forever . how family can be really embarrassing at times . And girls go through a stage of changing to try and impress others . Skye escaped to books which I LOVE cause people forget how fun reading can be ! AMAZING storyline def recommend to literally everyone!!🫶🏻
November 15, 2025
3.75 ⭐
January 29, 2017
It showed me that boys can be all nice on the outside, but inside, they were monsters. I think that Skye’s life could not get any more mortifying. I think that the voldermont twins were bullying Skye way too much. I felt most sorry for her when her skirt fell down and somebody caught her on tape. I also found out it was Skye’s ‘best friend’ was the traitor who caught Skye falling into the toilet. But I was happy to find out that in the end everything was sorted out.
June 27, 2016
Another light-hearted, easy-to-read novel featuring a Year 8 girl called Skye Green, who is also mortified by her mother’s behaviour. Her mother wears bizarre clothing, dabbles in new hobbies, and invites the new neighbour’s son to babysit - even though he’s only a year older than Skye.
Told in the first person, and dotted with excerpts from Skye’s diary, the whole story is told from her own point of view, so that the reader is truly immersed in her life. Of course, that’s part of Skye’s problem - she’s extremely self-involved, and once Wilson adds to the mix Skye's penchant for being impulsive and jumping to conclusions, it makes for some highly comic reading as the reader sees through her story.
The serious side is explored in Skye’s relationship with her best friend - as they move into adolescence it becomes apparent that loyalty towards each other is waivering as their interests start to differ, as well as their differing views on boys - one friend maturing before the other can be a tricky part of tweendom to navigate. Anna Wilson exploits every teen’s fear of losing friendship, and explores the perceived hurts and betrayals on both sides. There’s also a focus on bullying in today’s world, as Skye’s own embarrassing moments are filmed by her peers on their phones and shared widely. The perpetrators of this seem not to be punished though, merely threatened by others with their own embarrassing moments - perhaps this is truer to life than the adult world intervening.
Skye’s mother does intervene in her daughter’s best friend problems though, and helps her to navigate through - despite being embarrassing, it turns out mothers can be good listeners.
This is a comforting read - it doesn’t push any boundaries, but merely lays out friendship struggles and points to the perils of narcissism. When Skye finally sees beyond her own dramas, she embraces her family wholeheartedly.
There are many endearing and warming features about this book - from the boy next door, who is portrayed as far from perfect but completely adorable in his own way, to Skye’s obsession with books - she talks about what she’s reading and why she likes it - almost like a recommendation list within a book, which explores a breadth of reading and is good fun. This reader obviously particularly enjoyed that aspect. The interplay between school and home life is well depicted, as are themes of jealousy, younger siblings, and realising that parents are humans too.
visit my website at www.MinervaReads.com
Told in the first person, and dotted with excerpts from Skye’s diary, the whole story is told from her own point of view, so that the reader is truly immersed in her life. Of course, that’s part of Skye’s problem - she’s extremely self-involved, and once Wilson adds to the mix Skye's penchant for being impulsive and jumping to conclusions, it makes for some highly comic reading as the reader sees through her story.
The serious side is explored in Skye’s relationship with her best friend - as they move into adolescence it becomes apparent that loyalty towards each other is waivering as their interests start to differ, as well as their differing views on boys - one friend maturing before the other can be a tricky part of tweendom to navigate. Anna Wilson exploits every teen’s fear of losing friendship, and explores the perceived hurts and betrayals on both sides. There’s also a focus on bullying in today’s world, as Skye’s own embarrassing moments are filmed by her peers on their phones and shared widely. The perpetrators of this seem not to be punished though, merely threatened by others with their own embarrassing moments - perhaps this is truer to life than the adult world intervening.
Skye’s mother does intervene in her daughter’s best friend problems though, and helps her to navigate through - despite being embarrassing, it turns out mothers can be good listeners.
This is a comforting read - it doesn’t push any boundaries, but merely lays out friendship struggles and points to the perils of narcissism. When Skye finally sees beyond her own dramas, she embraces her family wholeheartedly.
There are many endearing and warming features about this book - from the boy next door, who is portrayed as far from perfect but completely adorable in his own way, to Skye’s obsession with books - she talks about what she’s reading and why she likes it - almost like a recommendation list within a book, which explores a breadth of reading and is good fun. This reader obviously particularly enjoyed that aspect. The interplay between school and home life is well depicted, as are themes of jealousy, younger siblings, and realising that parents are humans too.
visit my website at www.MinervaReads.com
June 27, 2016
Parents are so embarrassing. I mean they’re supposed to behave like grown-ups not rediscover themselves in hideous sparkly or even neon outfits from charity shops and decide on evening classes. Did Sky’s mum not read that rulebook?
The Parent Problem in a nutshell is Skye being mortified at her mother’s behaviour, because she isn’t being boring. I actually loved her for it. However Skye’s mum also doesn’t listen to Skye because she’s caught up her hobbies, so she misses all the signs for what is going wrong with her daughter. This book would have been very short if they both had just sat down for an hour and talked, it also would have been a whole lot less entertaining. (Though I do feel bad for Skye saying that.)
Anna Wilson has a good balance between funny and heart. Skye is very endearing as a narrator and there a plenty of moments in the story that will make you smile (or giggle) but because the emotions are there The Parent Problem just has that little bit extra.
The Parent Problem in a nutshell is Skye being mortified at her mother’s behaviour, because she isn’t being boring. I actually loved her for it. However Skye’s mum also doesn’t listen to Skye because she’s caught up her hobbies, so she misses all the signs for what is going wrong with her daughter. This book would have been very short if they both had just sat down for an hour and talked, it also would have been a whole lot less entertaining. (Though I do feel bad for Skye saying that.)
Anna Wilson has a good balance between funny and heart. Skye is very endearing as a narrator and there a plenty of moments in the story that will make you smile (or giggle) but because the emotions are there The Parent Problem just has that little bit extra.
September 8, 2016
I think this book was so good
Read
January 9, 2019really did not like it
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews