The Struggle: 4 Girls and 1 Bathroom is not the normal kind of book I review.

For one thing, it’s not a novel. Well, not really. The first book in the “series”, Mom and the Summertime Blues, was a summer holiday project Patrice Smith assigned her four daughters so they wouldn’t get bored (click here to read my review). This is the follow-up, written over the course of a school year. While the names have been changed, I have no doubt all these events actually occurred. This makes The Struggle more memoir than fiction.

Four sisters, two parents, and one bathroom.

I can see The Struggle! But that’s not all the book talks about. Each of the four sisters contributes three chapters, one from the beginning of the school year, one from the middle, and one from their summer trip. Mom starts with an apology, and wraps up loose ends to finish.

I enjoyed The Struggle.

I know it’s meant for middle grade and younger young adult readers, but I’d also recommend it toe homeschooling parents looking for ideas for school (or holiday) projects. I suspect there is a large market of grandparents who would love a real printed book by their grandchildren. Amazon CreateSpace and other Print on Demand printers means such an undertaking doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.

I’d also recommend The Struggle: 4 Girls and 1 Bathroom to those writing for a middle grade or young adult audience because of the insight it offers into the way modern pre-teen and teenage girls think. Part of me wants to know if the whole project is Patrice Smith’s sneaky plan to get to know her daughters better … or maybe not:

“I must say, my mom has done really well with the manipulating of her kids to eat the way she wants them to. She should write a book. Wait, what did I just say?”

Parts made me laugh out loud:

“My teacher makes coffee at the same time every morning. Nothing happens until she has some coffee in her hands. If you are smart, you stay out of her way until she has had at least one cup.”

I couldn’t possibly comment. Other parts reminded me how fast trends move on:

“My mom says by the time this book is published, I won’t want a fidget spinner anymore and people willl no longer be excited by them, but I doubt it.”

I suspect Mom was right. Big surprise.

The book also includes discussion questions (with thorny questions such as “Why do parents say No?”), and a word list, including the words that some younger readers might not know or understand (like vegan and chia).

Thanks to Patrice Smith for providing a free ebook for review. I’ll look forward to reading the next family project!

About the Authors

The authors of the book The Struggle: Mom and the Summertime Blues and The Struggle: 4 Girls & 1 Bathroom are from Middle Georgia. The authors consist of a mom and her four daughters. The mom, Patrice Smith, is a second-time author, who has previously coauthored a healthy living cookbook. She received a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources and Family Studies from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

The four adolescent authors are Donna Smith age 16, Shannon Smith age 15, Charity Smith age 13, and Faith Smith age 12. They are all very active, school-aged girls with a variety of interests which include reading, drawing, singing, art and more. The inspiration for the first book came from their real-life mom’s summer writing assignment. This book is inspired by their real life, but it is a work of fiction. Be on the lookout for future works by these talented authors.

About The Struggle: 4 Girls and 1 Bathroom

The Struggle: 4 Girls & 1 Bathroom is the sequel to the book entitled The Struggle: Mom and the Summertime Blues. It is also about the lives of four sisters, Diamond, Shelia, Crystal, and Felicity. Previously, these sisters wrote about having to endure a long summer with their mom and her never-ending lists of chores and schoolwork. Now they are back to discuss their upcoming school year. But this time, no one is safe from their complaints!

Read the introduction to The Struggle below: