Don't Tell My Mom That I Love Her

Enter Maggie—adorably, exhaustingly, and sarcastically twelve—a modern-day Margaret (a là Judy Blume) whose private diary is her daily outlet for (over)analysing her "miserable" and "confusing" life. In entries that vary as wildly as her mood swings, Maggie beautifully articulates (and screams from the rooftops) the bitter day-to-day battles of (pre-)adolescence and all the things her parents, teachers, and peers shockingly do not understand. With an introspective and sometimes ingenious mind, she vents about the endless misunderstandings and mishaps she experiences daily at school—and at home with her overwhelmed parents—and the generally terrible unfairness of being twelve.

Obsessively self-reflective and painfully inquisitive, Maggie resembles a young Carrie Bradshaw—without the sophistication and designer shoe collection—as she tries to find the answers in her angst and immerses herself in her own "tweenage" world, convincing herself she doesn't care what her mother thinks, while ultimately realising just how intrinsically connected and deeply intertwined they are. Through discovering their profound bond, mother and daughter heal and grow up together. With a backdrop of the movies, musicals, beloved characters, and sounds of the author's own adolescence, this heartwarming story will entertain and educate daughters and mums alike.

Don't Tell My Mom That I Love Her by Lauren Barnett captures the complexity and chaos of being twelve with warmth and wit, making it a must-read for both daughters and mothers.