The Six Rules of Maybe

Gr 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old Scarlet, self-appointed savior, learns a lesson in the pitfalls of trying to control the lives of others in this novel (Simon Pulse, 2010) by Deb Caletti. The story begins with her older sister Juliet suddenly returning home, married and pregnant, accompanied by her architect-student husband, Hayden, and his dog. Juliet, Hayden, the girls' mom, various colorful neighbors, and an assortment of classmates all with complicated issues drive concerned, busybody Scarlet to an emotional climax as she tries to fill the roles of matchmaker, social worker, psychotherapist, and marriage counselor while simultaneously having a crush on Hayden. A neighbor's fire and the concurrent loss of Hayden's beloved dog, her sister's disappearance, and the loss of Hayden himself break Scarlet's fix-it track and lead to an epiphany: she cannot continue trying to control everyone's life path. Teri Clark Linden differentiates the characters, but her rendition of teen voices makes them sound unrealistic. Slow speech and odd inflections are not true to today's teen speech; her adult voices are performed well. The retro song excerpts Linden sings are not true to the original tunes. Note that there is plenty of profanity. Barring the odd teen speech, this audiobook should be popular with girls who enjoy adolescent über-drama.—Jennifer Ward, Albany Public Library, NY