The Struggle: 4 Girls & 1 Bathroom (#TheStruggleBooks) - Softcover

Reviewed by Vernita Naylor for Readers' Favorite

What happens when four girls have to cohabit, especially in sharing a bathroom? The result is The Struggle: 4 Girls & 1 Bathroom (The Struggle Books) (Volume 2) by Patrice S Smith, Donna Smith, Shannon Smith, Charity Smith, and Faith Smith, the sequel to The Struggle: Mom and the Summertime Blues. This is a funny, witty and charming book about a teenager and her three pre-teen sisters, Diamond, Shelia, Crystal, and Felicity. This book is ideal for children ages 10-15 years because it provides some stories that they can relate to; from their relationships with their friends and families and the ups and downs of school life, to all of the problems that they have that no one else seems to understand or care about. This book was started initially by the girls’ mom because she wanted them to stop complaining and instead to channel their energies by journaling their thoughts. What is interesting about this book is that you will learn a lot about the minds of children, especially girls, during their pre-teen and teenage years.

During our teenage and pre-teen years, we tend to believe that no one understands us. And the problems that we have only exist and happen to us. We operate in the “I can't do anything but my friends can” and the “Woe is me" continual cycle, but life continues to evolve, and later we discover that, actually, it wasn't so bad after all. These are some of the many things that I loved about this book, along with the occasional illustrations which highlight the subjects that the girls discuss, which make the story hilarious. This book is not only entertaining but educational because of the ‘Did You Know?’ resource at the end of each chapter, discussion questions and vocabulary words which create a great asset for the reader. This book is highly recommended!