The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

The sequel to the Travelling Pants, and rumoured to be a film waiting to happen. I have to say that I enjoyed the Second Summer much more than the first. Bridget finds that her Dad has hidden letters from her Grandmother. She decides to go down to stay with her Grandmother for the summer, but she doesn’t let her Grandma know she is coming. Tibby goes to film school for the summer and has to decide what she wants to do with her life. Lena struggles with the after-effects of what happened in Greece the year before and tries to uncover a secret that her Mom has been keeping.  Carmen now has to deal with her feelings as her Mom starts to date again.

The stories are all very interesting although Bridget’s was the most compelling. I started to get annoyed with Carmen, although I think that may be because I’m getting old. This is definitely a good summer read with just the right amount of serious conflict.

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

The first of the series this book introduces us to Georgia Nicolson. Georgia is a pretty standard Brit teen with an embarrassing family, funny friends but no guys in sight. As Georgia tries to figure out the opposite sex she gets stuck with a variety of problems. The guys don’t seem to do anything other than make out (snogging). All this time Georgia tries to catch the eye of the older Sex God, brother of the guy her best friend is in love with.

Told in a diary style I really enjoyed this book. The situations that Georgia gets herself into are quite amusing, although usually more of the embarrassing sort of amusing.  I wanted Georgia to get the Sex God but I have the feeling (being older and wiser then I was at 14) that it will end badly. A very typical British sense of humour is expressed in the book and a helpful glossary is given at the back “for American readers”. I was familiar with some of the terms and the other ones I got used to pretty quickly. There isn’t any message in this book which is great, it is just a fun read. I look forward to checking out other books in the series.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

So doing this for school has officially ended but I don’t think I’m going to let go of this blog or reading YA. With school out I wanted to decompress with some more reading. I chose this one as I had seen the movie last year but never read the book.

 Plot summary:
Four girls born in the same month whose Mom’s were friends are spending their first summer apart. As they prepare to depart on their first individual adventures they find a pair of pants which magically fit them all. Unlike the film this is not done at the store but in Carmen’s room. You follow each of the girls through new and exciting/horrifying/embarasing situations. 

Evaluation:
I sort of enjoyed this movie just because of the actresses but as always the book is so much better. The plots are explored more deeply and the characters are more real. I felt that Carmen and Tibby’s stories were well portrayed in the film but not the other ones. I liked this book but didn’t love it. It was a fun summer read and at 15 on the beach I’m sure it would have been fabulous. I guess I’m getting old as I wanted to know more about the Mom’s as well as the daughters.

Score:    Quality – 3/5     Popularity  – 4/5

Beaner O’Brian’s Absolutely Ginormous Guidebook to Guys

Beaner, or Hannah as she wants to be called, has a major project to do for the summer and she just can’t see how she’ll get it done. She has chosen to write a paper about the opposite sex. The problem is that Beaner doesn’t know much about guys, not like her fabulous sister or ex-model step-mother. Somehow Beaner ends up meeting a member of the hottest boy-bands SWAK, and he asks her out but even that goes wrong. Even when she tries to help her sister who is having a pre-wedding meltdown things just don’t work out. Eventually Hannah manages to get her act together and make things up to her family and friends.

I wanted to like this book but it was just too much. The plot was pretty non-existent and the writing was OK. I was hoping for more drama or romance but this book just left me hanging. The main point of the book was for Hannah to stop obsessing about her own drama and focus on the lives of the people around her.

Age range: 12-14
Ranking: Quality – 2/5 Popularity – 2/5

Gossip Girl – Because I’m worth it.

This is the fourth gossip girl novel and it takes place in February in New York, well the New York of the rich and fabulous. The majority of the cast of characters have put in their applications to Universities and are waiting on their early acceptances. They are all blowing off steam and having a good time. An even better one once Fashion week starts. This is almost a land of fantasy where the high school cafeteria serves wasabi-smoked tuna burgers and somehow everyone is involved in a fashion show.

Blair the “bitchiest, vainest girl in the entire senior class” tries to improve herself by helping out the younger girls but ends up in a disastrous flirtation with a much older man. Serena the vapid but beautiful one who lands a modeling gig by walking into a store. Daniel the poet and Vanessa the filmmaker who experience wild success which rips them apart. Nate gets busted buying weed and has to go to rehab but discovers that sometimes there is a reason to get clean.

The stories in these books are controversial with copious amounts of drinking, smoking, sex and drugs, but I can see why they are so popular. These books are an escapist fantasy but never take things too far or too seriously. Even though Blair ends up in a hotel room with her older man, she doesn’t do anything. Much of the book is fluff and for those kids brought up by Entertainment Tonight and People magazine this is their ideal world. I think that the controversy should perhaps direct itself outward to the celebrity culture of our world rather than into these novels.

Age range: 14+
Ranking: Quality – 2.5/5 Popularity – 5/5

10 Things to Do Before You’re 16

Beth and Anna have just turned 15 and have realized that time is running out if they are going to be fabulous and popular by their 16th birthday. They live in the shadow of Frankie, the fabulous girl at school, who has a modeling contract and gets into clubs. They decide to make a list of the 10 things that they need to do over the next year. Jump ahead nine months and the girls still haven’t done anything on their list. They push themselves into overdrive to get it done. Some of their efforts, like home applied hair extensions, are a disaster and others work out well. They learn that although pampering and preening can be fun that it isn’t necessary for happiness.

A fun little book that and old English teacher of mine would refer to as “toilet reading”. This was a very quick read with not that much substance but I still wanted to know how it ended. There is some Brit slang that some readers may have trouble with but you get used to it rather quickly.

Age range: 14 – 16

Ranking: Quality – 3 Popularity – 4?