As promised, I've been checking out some of the "chick book" series. I started with Mates, Dates and Inflatable Bras by Cathy Hopkins and moved on to Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison. Basically, I ventured into this genre (which, if you know me, is outside my usual comfort zone) because I really wasn't sure what the appropriate age 
was for some of these series when kids were asking me for recommendations. I actually enjoyed both books. Angus... was a Michael J. Printz Honor book, and reading the 2 books over the same weekend to compare before my memory became fuzzy (which doesn't take much these days), it was definitely more original and better-written than Mates.. I'd be comfortable recommending either to all but the most conservative upper-middle-schoolers. Any breathing female who wasn't drop-dead gorgeous and popular in middle and high schools can relate to characters in either book. If you haven't read many British books and aren't familiar with British slang, you might want to start with Angus.. because Rennison included a glossary. Even without that, it's not too hard to figure out the unfamiliar terms from content. Did I enjoy them? Yes. Enough to read the rest of the series? Nah. Eventually, I'll get to some others like The Clique series, but I'm taking a break. I just started The Schwa Was Here and am enjoying that immensely so far. Watch for the review in a few days.
was for some of these series when kids were asking me for recommendations. I actually enjoyed both books. Angus... was a Michael J. Printz Honor book, and reading the 2 books over the same weekend to compare before my memory became fuzzy (which doesn't take much these days), it was definitely more original and better-written than Mates.. I'd be comfortable recommending either to all but the most conservative upper-middle-schoolers. Any breathing female who wasn't drop-dead gorgeous and popular in middle and high schools can relate to characters in either book. If you haven't read many British books and aren't familiar with British slang, you might want to start with Angus.. because Rennison included a glossary. Even without that, it's not too hard to figure out the unfamiliar terms from content. Did I enjoy them? Yes. Enough to read the rest of the series? Nah. Eventually, I'll get to some others like The Clique series, but I'm taking a break. I just started The Schwa Was Here and am enjoying that immensely so far. Watch for the review in a few days.
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