Just Do This One Thing for Me - by Laura Zimmermann

About the Book

Stuck at the lake in the middle of a Wisconsin winter, Drew and his younger sister and brother struggle to stay together after their manipulative, con artist mother dies, which they can only do if they can keep her death a secret.

Book Synopsis

Hilarious, heartbreaking, and sneaky suspenseful, Just Do This One Thing for Me is a timely novel about a rule-following daughter trying to hold her family together after her scammer mother disappears.

"Just do this one thing for me." Drew's mother says it more often than good morning. Heidi Hill has been juggling shady side hustles for all of Drew's seventeen years, and Drew knows that "one thing" really means all the necessary things her mother thinks are boring, including taking care of her fifteen-year-old sister and eight-year-old brother. In fact, Drew is the closest thing to a responsible adult they've ever known. When their mother disappears on the way to a New Year's Eve concert in Mexico and her schemes start unraveling, Drew is faced with a choice: Follow the rules, do the responsible thing, and walk away--alone--from her mother's mess. Or hope the weather stays cold, keep the cons going, and just maybe hold her family together.

Review Quotes

"[A] propulsive, heartbreaking account of having to grow up too soon."--People Magazine

"One of the most humorous, touching novels published this year."--St. Paul Pioneer Press

"A wild ride." --Minnesota Public Radio

"A witty, off-beat, and strangely charming look at just how far an eldest child will go to keep their younger siblings together. --School Library Journal

"Drew's bitingly funny, smart, and deceptively vulnerable voice drives this contemporary fiction offering that delivers madcap comedy, a bit of a mystery, and an engaging family drama.... An often hilarious yet also poignant tale of sibling loyalty." --Kirkus Reviews

"Zimmerman delivers a suspenseful novel about three siblings struggling to stay afloat after their mother's death. The siblings' enduring relationship provides a strong through line, while cinematic prose and Drew's wry first-person voice convey both gruesome and darkly humorous descriptions of the trio's efforts to stay together." --Publishers Weekly

An SLJ Best Book of the Year
An Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominee
A Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award

About the Author

Laura Zimmermann is a multiple-time champion of the Twin Cities Moth and Word Sprout story slams, and she was chosen to participate in the 2018 Listen To Your Mother storytelling show. Her debut novel, My Eyes Are Up Here, won the Minnesota Book Award. She lives with her family in Minneapolis, MN.