Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
Rennison, L. (1999). Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging. New York, NY. Harper Collins.
Summary: Written in diary format, Louise Rennison explores the insane world of Georgia Nicolson in Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging. Suddenly struck with love for the new guy in town, Robbie, Georgia has to navigate school, snogging lessons, pretty blonde rivals, and many, many boys. All while keeping her cool around her absolutely bonkers family. The first in a ten book long saga, Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging is a laugh out loud riot of book.
Thoughts: I chose this book to review for this blog because this series is so very near and dear to my heart. I started reading them in middle school, and have kept up with the series all the way through my adulthood. I’ve also read Rennison’s spin-off series starring Georgia’s cousin Tallulah, and it is equally as hilarious. These books got me through some tough times. I own all of them, and being able to read them when I needed a pick me up made me grateful that they were something I had access to. And so of course I was devastated when Louise Rennison passed away last year. She was one of my first favorite authors, and she and Georgia had been with me through those awkward teenage years.
As an adult though, I pick up on a lot more than I did as a teen. The slut-shaming of over girls is particularly bad, as well as the judgement of other women in general. I still think it’s absurd that this book is a banned and challenged novel, because other than a bit of language, some incredibly vague references to sex, and using the word “sex,” there is absolutely nothing objectionable about it. It’s laugh out loud funny, and a bit of a cult favorite at our library.
From Publisher’s Weekly: British writer Rennison’s subject matter may be the stuff of Bridget Jones’s Diary, but the wit and bite of her delivery shares more in common with Monty Python. In a spectacular YA debut (Rennison is a comedy writer and columnist), the author creates a winning protagonist in the persona of 14-year-old Georgia Nicolson, whose wry observations and self-deprecating humor covers everything from prudish parents and bed-wetting three-year-old siblings to errant cat behavior and kissing (aka snogging) lessons. Teens will discover that nothing is sacred here (e.g., “”Talking of breasts, I’m worried that I may end up like the rest of the women in my family, with just the one bust, like a sort of shelf affair””). Rennison exquisitely captures the fine art of the adolescent ability to turn chaos into stand-up comedy. For instance, when Georgia’s father finds a new job in New Zealand, the teen says she’s already formed her opinion of the country based on the TV show Neighbours; when her mother says, “”Well, that’s set in Australia,”” Georgia thinks, “”What is this, a family crisis or a geography test?”” Written as diary entries, the novel flouts the conceit, as when Georgia reports on a tennis match that she’s playing concurrently (“”I fall to my knees like McEnroe and the crowd is going mad””). The author bio indicates that Rennison is working on two more Georgia books; readers can only hope this heroine will keep them laughing all the way through high school.
Publishers Weekly. (2000). Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging. Publisher’s Weekly. PWxyz LLC. Retrieved August 10, 2017 from: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-028871-6
Potential Library Uses: I think this would be perfect to use in a teen book talk about banned and challenged young adult books. We would discuss reasons why books are banned, reactions to book bans and challenges, and how the teens feel about challenges and bans. We could also speak about which of the books they have read, and whether they feel they should be banned or not. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging would be the perfect accompaniment to this book talk.
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