Tuesday, March 15, 2011

YAL Blog - "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison

Title: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson 

Author: Louise Rennison

ISBN: 0-06-447227-2

Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers

Date of Publication:  April 2001

Reading Level: 7th grade and up

Keywords:
Books in Print –
 JUVENILE FICTION / General
JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories
JUVENILE FICTION / People & Places / Europe
CHILDREN'S FICTION
DIARIES FICTION
HUMOROUS STORIES
ENGLAND FICTION
From me –
Teen life, family relationships, social relationships, school stories

Synopsis:  (from Books in Print)
Angus:
My mixed-breed cat, half domestic tabby, half Scottish wildcat. The size of a small Labrador, only mad.
Thongs:
Stupid underwear. What's the point of them, anyway? They just go up your bum, as far as I can tell.
Full-Frontal Snogging:
Kissing with all the trimmings, lip to lip, open mouth, tongues ... everything.
Her dad's got the mentality of a Teletubby (only not so developed). Her cat, Angus, is trying to eat the poodle next door. And her best friend thinks she looks like an alien -- just because she accidentally shaved off her eyebrows. Ergghhhlack. Still, add a little boy-stalking, teacher-baiting, and full-frontal snogging with a Sex God, and Georgia's year just might turn out to be the most fabbitty fab fab ever!

Awards:
Nestlé Children's Book Prize (NOMINATED) 1999
Bluegrass Award (NOMINATED) 2002
Book Sense Book of the Year (NOMINATED) 2002
Evergreen Young Adult Book Award (NOMINATED) 2003
Garden State Teen Book Award (NOMINATED) 2003
Virginia Reader's Choice Awards (WON) 2003

Comments: I read this book per recommendations from my students.  I was a little wary because of the title (and other titles in the series), but I gave it a shot and I’m glad that I did (to be truthful, the title’s probably just for shock value - there is very little in the actual story for parents to be concerned about).  This is a perfectly hilarious book poking fun at a typical teenage girl’s hopes and fears and all the drama that she gets pulled into (as teenage girls are wont to do).  The book is written as Georgia’s diary and she’s as honest as any girl would be if she knew nobody would ever read what she wrote.  There are so many funny parts, but I think my favorite is when she’s spying on a classmate and how horrified she is when she finds out what a thong really is.  Plus, I adore the wonderful “Britishisms” that pepper the narrative (there is a glossary at the back of the book – which is funny in its own right – for readers who don’t quite know what Georgia is referring to in some instances).
The only complaint I could really have is that it’s a little far-fetched to believe that a girl would have her diary on hand to detail every little stray thought every five minutes as though Georgia were on Twitter (some of the entries do that) – but it ultimately adds to the humor.  Since it’s written as Georgia’s diary, there isn’t much of a “plotline” other than following her through a school year, but that didn’t bother me.  It was nice to have a light and fluffy read after some of the heavier stuff I’ve been reading and I’d like to tackle the rest of the series.

Up Next: “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman

On Deck: “Pure” by Terra Elan McVoy; “Except the Queen” by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder; “Gregor the Overlander” by Suzanne Collins; “Running Out of Time” by Margaret Peterson Haddix; “You Don’t Know Me” by David Klass

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