Word Out 2014

Don’t Call Me Baby by Gwendolyn Heasley

Reviewed by Sam, age 18

Imogene’s mother has been writing an incredibly embarrassing, and incredibly popular, blog about her since before she was born. The thing is, Imogene is fifteen now, and her mother is still blogging about her. In gruesome detail.

When a mandatory school project compels Imogene to start her own blog, Imogene is reluctant to expose even more of her life online… until she realizes that the project is the opportunity she’s been waiting for to define herself for the first time.

In a time when we’re constantly plugged into the Internet, Don’t Call Me Baby is an enlightening read that reminds us not only of how much time and effort we invest online, but also that what we post online is open for everyone to read. Imogene’s mother runs a blog by the name of “Mommylicious Meg”, in which she blogs about Imogene – who she refers to as “Babylicious”. If this isn’t bad enough, everyone in Imogene’s town – and in America – seems to believe that Imogene really is this “Babylicious” that her mother blogs about.

But Imogene is nothing like her mother makes her out to be. In fact, she wants nothing to do with her mother’s blog. All she wants is the chance to form her own identity and show the world that she’s no longer the baby her mother once blogged about. However, her mother refuses to see her side of the story, and when Imogene is given a school assignment to create a blog, she jumps at the chance to turn the tables on her mother.

Don’t Call Me Baby quickly becomes a story about a complicated mother-daughter relationship and the importance of communication. Imogene’s mother has spent her entire paren'thood on her blog, going as far as consulting her readers to name her daughter. She looks to her readers for advice and writes about Imogene in ways that Imogene feels infringe on her privacy. Imogene, however, can’t build up the courage to tell her mother this in person, and so the story follows her struggle to get her mother to understand her position.

I love that this book shows how the generations before teenagers today have become immersed in technology and the Internet. The fact that Imogene, the teenager, is more interested in “unplugging” and living life in the moment than her mother added an interesting twist to the story. The relationship between Imogene and her mother is also fascinating; from Imogene’s perspective, it seems as if her mother is being ridiculous. But as the story progresses, it becomes apparen't that there are two different sides to the story. Don’t Call Me Baby is a fresh, funny novel that will keep readers guessing, and I would definitely recommend it for summertime reading.