View source for Socks Are Not Enough by Mark Lowery

{{infobox1
|title=Socks Are Not Enough
|author=Mark Lowery
|reviewer=Linda Lawlor
|genre=Teens
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781407139926
|pages=272
|publisher=Scholastic
|date=February 2012
|video=nwqwKwUpEIY
|summary=Michael's horrible brother has just started going out with the girl he's in love with, his grubby-minded friend keeps landing him in embarrassing situations, and he's just discovered his parents are secret nudists. No wonder he's moved out and is sleeping in a tent in the garden.  
|cover=1407130021
|aznuk=1407130021
|aznus=B0069PGLTO
}}

Fourteen-year-old Michael seems to run from one disaster to the next. Not even his mother would call him good-looking, he feels he is a failure at everything he tries, and his desperate attempts to introduce some order and control to his life verge on OCD. He only has one friend, although even there the title is debatable: Michael feels either irritated or frustrated with Paul's behaviour most of the time, with good reason—generally speaking it is Paul who lands him in the worst scrapes. 

Michael is a worrier, who hates being late for things and who tends to make long and complex lists to help him make sense of his world. When we first meet him a whole catalogue of catastrophes, and his reaction to them, mean he has to endure counselling sessions at school, firstly with Miss O'Malley of the enormous hands, and then with the seventies throwback Chas.  He is unwilling to enter into discussion with either of them, and so is given a laptop to record his thoughts. This he does with enthusiasm and searing honesty, showing no hesitation whatsoever in making the most personal of comments about everyone including the two counsellors, even though he knows they will read his entries. The book we have is made up of accounts of his counselling sessions and the events which brought him there.

Such a set-up could make for a depressing book, but in fact it is high comedy bordering on slapstick. Michael tells his story with a wry, self-deprecating humour which sees the funny side of even the worst of situations, and the characters and events get increasingly absurd as the book goes on. The father of the fair Lucy King, who is also the coach for Michael's swimming club, is a sharp-tongued bruiser who deliberately gets Michael's name wrong and who belittles him at every turn. His elder brother is devious and spiteful, constantly getting Michael into scrapes and presenting himself, incredibly, as the good child of the family. And his parents are astonishly self-centred, allowing their own needs and desires to blind them to the impact their behaviour is having on their teenage son. 

There are several delightfully well-observed moments in the book. Michael notes in passing at one point that since he discovered his parents' nudist tendencies (well, almost: his father insists on keeping his socks on) he has sat on the floor to watch television: the thought that his parents' bare buttocks have graced the sofa for the past decade makes it an unappealing place to relax. Coach Dave, he notices, is so attached to his clipboard that he even takes it to the loo with him. And while his friend Paul's obsession with girls is extreme, there are nonetheless elements in his attitude which readers will recognise in some of their less civilised schoolmates. 

The book is a light-hearted read, despite its serious premise, and it is crammed with crazy, almost unbelievable situations. It is silly and it is funny, with some excellent insights into the young male mind, and it will amuse many young readers enormously.

Michael shares many traits with another eternally adolescent hero: if you enjoyed this, try [[The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend]].

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[[Category:Humour]]