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Book Review of The Terrible Thing That Happened at Our House

The Terrible Thing That Happened at Our House
hoopridge avatar reviewed on + 252 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


This book was my favorite when I was a little girl. The story is simple: a mother gets tired of being a stay-at-home mom and goes back to work. The family has a hard time adjusting.

Sounds simple enough, but the story is told from the tween daughter's point of view, which makes Mom going back to work seem like the worst event ever to happen on the planet. She thinks that it's a "terrible thing" that her mom would not want to take care of her and her brother anymore and that they have to dress themselves, eat in the school's cafeteria, and actually DO DISHES after dinner.

Of course, she has a meltdown and the family decides to all pitch in and work together as a family (gasp!) to run the house and their lives.

This was obviously written in the 1970s, when the Women's Lib movement was strong and gaining momentum, but the story is not preachy or anti-Women's Lib at all. The pictures are wonderful, full of 70s colors and graphics.

This book is hilarious and timeless, really. It's not a "terrible thing" at all!