Teen books have come a long way since I was a teen in the 90's reading Babysitters Club and R.L. Stine. Sick of reading Chick Lit and other adult fiction, I recently discovered teen author E. Lockhart. I read The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book (which are a continuation of each other)in a weekend. The main character, Ruby Oliver, is so awkward and worries about the craziest things. Yet she and all the other characters speak in this dialogue that is very adult and witty. I'm dying for the next book in the series that Lockhart is completing right now. To tide me over, I picked up Fly on the Wall, also by Lockhart, and it was SCARY how similar this book is to my life! Gretchen Yee goes to art school where they take drawing class (me in college, check!), parents dropped the bomb that they were getting divorced (me in 2004, check!), is reading The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka in school (me in Mr. Manley's English class in college, CHECK!). I mean the first two instances could happen to a bunch of people, but I think the Metamorphosis is not fodder for a teen novel and that is one of my all time favorite books! Because of all of the above, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, mostly when Gretchen was a human and less when she was in the fly on the wall of the boy's bathroom sequence looking at naked boys and discovering her hormones. I guess that's the part for the teens.
2 comments:
I read teen books too, but I also like to write for teens, so I guess it goes hand in hand. There are some really great ones out there. Do you read Francesca Lia Block's work?
I also read teen books, but i guess i was a teen a couple of years ago...those look like some good ones...I'll have to check those out
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