Likely Story by David Van Etten

Watch out, daytime soaps, there’s a new kid on the channel! Mallory is a teenage girl living in L.A. and her mother is the oftnominated, never-winning star of a daytime soap; she is, in fact, the ultimate drama queen. After yet another blowout about her mother’s awful plotlines and overacting, Mallory starts blogging about how she wishes soap operas were more like real kids’ lives instead of the ridiculous storylines the shows usually feature. Her mother’s agent reads the blog, offers to show it around, and a star is born! Soon Mallory’s caught up in her own whirlwind drama, both at school and on the lot, as she works to protect the integrity of her original idea, cope with her mother’s jealousy, get through school, and get her best-friend-but-not-the-best-actress a lead role on the show.



Likely Story is an immensely amusing book. It is written by three authors; David Levithan (my favorite author), David Ozanich, and Chris Van Etten. They got the name David Van Etten by combining al their names. Likely Story isn’t a book you would expect to come out of the minds of three boys. It is about a teenage girl who’s mom is a soap opera star. Mallory, the teenage girl, decides to write a soap opera that goes against what normal soap opera’s show.
Likely Story is the first book in a series. Though the characters were a little too bubbly for my personal taste, this book was beautifully written. The relationship between Mallory and her mother was like many present-day relationships between parents and their children. Mallory thought her mothers job was vapid and Mallory’s mom thinks that her daughter doesn’t know what she is doing.
By the end of the book, not much had happened. The book wasn’t really productive, the characters were relatable, and the writing was fabulous. You should read it if you get a chance.