Fifteen 6: All Out of

by Susan Wittig and Susan Blake

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451142705
• ISBN13: 9780451142702
• Release Date: May 1986
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 159 Pages

Customer Reviews

Family Ties...

"Fifteen" was a short lived series of young adult books published in the mid eighties. The books were written by different authors, and loosely tied together by having the characters in each book attend the same high school. The protaganist was always a fifteen year old girl facing universal adolescent problems such as fitting in, crushes on boys, relationships with parents, and self image. There were only six books in the series, which is a shame because they were always interesting and well written. "All Out Of Grape Jelly" is a little different from the others in that the primary focus is on family relationships rather than school and friends. Michelle (aka "Mickey") and her older sister Ann are so different it's hard to believe they're related. But Mickey is so involved with her friends and school activities that she doesn't concern herself with her sister's life - until everyone at school begins pointing out that Ann is changing. The once popular, successful Ann has dropped out of the cheerleading squad and hasn't been on a date in ages. Instead, she's spending her time home alone, cooking and cleaning while the girl's parents are at work. Becoming concerned about this change in her sister, Mickey tries to find out what's wrong and begins to notice things she hadn't seen before. Why are her parents working such late hours lately? Why doesn't her mother cook dinner any more? Why don't her parents talk to each other? Suddenly, happy go lucky Mickey is faced with serious family problems as her parent's marriage falls apart and her once confident sister sinks into depression. Desperate to keep her family together, Mickey begins to put some effort into trying to solve their problems and forms a new bond with Ann along the way. A good story about family relationships. Mickey and Ann are well developed, though the parents are rather one dimensional (and the father is outright obnoxious, demanding that his wife and daughters "shape up" to keep the household running while insisting that cooking and cleaning are not his job). The ending is perhaps a little too neat, but overall a good addition to a teen's library.