Confessions of Georgia Nicolson

I am a married mother, and I absolutely love the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson young adult series of books by Louise Rennison.  Think Bridget Jones's Diary for teens.  These are laugh-out loud hilarious books -- I kid you not.  Vair, vair amusante.  There are ten books in the series now, and the first is by far my favorite:  Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging.  It came out in 1999 and is a Michael L. Printz Honor Book (for excellence in young adult literature), and was also voted number 127 in the BBC's Big Read poll to find England's favorite book.

What do I love about these books written for young adults, aside from their hilariousosity?  I am, after all, obviously not their intended audience.  I don't know how to say this without sounding like a prude, but they are refreshingly... clean.  The only swearing is done in foreign languages (merde, shiesshause, etc) -- they get much more creative with expressions that you'll probably need to read the glossary to fully understand.  (They speak British in these books!)  Only the losers smoke (Mark the Big Gob, who gets the duffing he deserves by Dave the Laugh and the bullying Bummer Twins, who get expelled from school for shoplifting).  No one drinks except the adults, and there is no sex -- but lots of snogging.  These are books that I would totally recommend to another parent for their child without having to worry about it coming back to bite me in the bum.  (Although believe it or not, some parents have actually tried to have these books banned!  There's a link below.)

A short summary of the series?  Georgia and her gang of Ace Friends navigate hell (known as school), parents (muttis and vatis), and boys (oo-er).  The Sex God, the Luuuurve God and Dave the Laugh all battle for Georgia's attention.  Who will she choose?  I haven't read the tenth (and final) book yet to find out!  It's been released in the last month or so and I've just picked it up from the library (Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?).  I'm re-reading the entire series first (these are really short books - I whizz through them in a day or so), and then it's farewell Georgia!  Or is it Ciao?!  Or "I'm away laughing on a fast camel!"

Titles in the Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison:  

1. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
2. On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God
3. Knocked Out by my Nunga-Nungas
4. Away Laughing on a Fast Camel
5. Dancing in my Nuddy-Pants
6. Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers
7. Startled by His Furry Shorts
8. Love is a Many Trousered Thing
9. Stop in the Name of Pants
10. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?
    

Learn More:  (Blimey!  I don't know how much you can learn from these books except some British slang!)

• Confessions of Georgia Nicolson website.  Choose between the American, Australian or UK versions.  The American version has the Snogging Scale (which is frequently referenced throughout all of the books and handy to have!) and e-cards, but is otherwise inferior to the other sites.  They all have a glossary of slang used in the books.  V. helpful!  

• Which Georgia Nicolson Character Are You?  Take this quiz to find out!  

•  The Tart's Wardrobe:  A YA Literature Salon interviewed an English person to explain the difference between shorts, pants, and knickers. 

• They made a movie out of this, but thankfully it has not been released in America yet (although you can watch it on YouTube).  I am just one of those people who am continually disappointed by the movie adaptation of my favorite books, and this looks to be no different.   

• What does the clown car that Georgia's dad and Uncle Eddie drive look like?  It's a Reliant Robin. 

• Even though I love these books because they are refreshingly "clean", they've made it onto the Banned Books lists.  In fact, Louise Rennison was one of the most challenged/banned authors in 2003.  To find out more about Banned Books, check out the American Library Association's page for Banned Book Week, and the Kids' Right to Read Project has some cool stuff as well, including a First Amendment guide for young adults.  Well, whaddya know -- an educational link!!