The aim of this essay is to study the main characters in Sue Townsend’s The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 _ and Nick Hornby’s About a Boy and to draw the conclusion whether the parent characters are good parents or not according to different theories. The family life in these two novels will also be discussed. The different characters in the novels live in complex family situations, the parents do not seem to care for their children and the children in these novels have a hard time both at school and at home. There are many types of parents in both books and in fact, the most suitable parent in both the critics’ and the readers’ eye is Will, who actually is not a parent character at all. The other parents in the books behave selfishly and do not give their children the love and support they need. This leads to a situation where their children have to grow up too quickly and instead of being children, take care of their parents.