3. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

ANGUS, THONGS, AND FULL-FRONTAL SNOGGING by Louise Rennison (HarperCollins, 1999)

GENRE: Contemporary / Humor / Romance

HONORS: American Booksellers Book Sense Book of the Year Finalist, Garden State Teen Book Award, Michael L. Printz Award Honor, Smarties Book Prize Bronze Award, Soaring Eagle Book Award 2^nd Runner-up, Virginia Young Readers Program

REVIEW:

At fourteen years old, Georgia Nicholson shares the same problems as many teenagers—her parents don’t understand her, she lacks confidence in her looks, and the guy she has a crush on is dating her archenemy.  Written in diary entries, Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging details a year in Georgia’s life in England, beginning at the end of summer.  When Georgia and her best friend, Jas, meet two brothers at the local grocer, Georgia cannot stop thinking about Robbie, the one she deems the “Sex God.”  Although her flirting seems to go nowhere, Jas starts to date Robbie’s brother, Tom, causing a temporary rift in their friendship when Jas begins to hang out with Robbie and his new girlfriend, Lindsay.  On top of that, Georgia’s father moves to New Zealand for a better job and her giant cat, Angus, goes missing.  What is a girl to do?

OPINION:

This book is an extremely quick-read.  The diary entries flow effortlessly from one to another, filled with humor and teenage drama.  I especially like the entries that are within minutes of each other, showing Georgia’s constant rethinking of her plans and actions.  Rennison writes Georgia as a likeable character, making her outbursts and changes in mood all the more hilarious.  Her self-doubt is something that many teens deal with and Georgia talks about it quite honestly, serving to show female readers that they are not alone.  Although there is a dictionary of British-isms in the back, the book is filled with British slang that may frustrate tween readers that do not want to have to flip back and forth to figure out some of the more abstract ones.  However, Georgia is a character so full of humor and personality that female tweens will enjoy reading her story and feeling as if she is telling her daily problems right to them.

IDEAS:

This book could be used for a library display of British tween books or young Chick Lit books.  Also, because there is a film adaptation of the novel, a tween reading club could read the book and then watch the film to see how the humor translates.