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

The first in a popular ongoing series (now up to ten titles), it was long past time I gave this one a try.  It's outside of my usual literary repertoire, as I don't read many humorous books, particularly high-school girl humour.  As a geeky tomboy type, they usually don't mesh with my own experiences at that age.

Written as the diary of fourteen year old Georgia Nicholson, this novel is packed with hyperbole and minor personal crises.  Georgia is snide, hypocritical, myopically self-centred, and casually cruel towards the feelings of friends, classmates, and romantic rivals.  She takes everything far too seriously, particularly when boys are involved, and feels eternally abused by her parents. 

This is all to say, she's very much a fourteen year old girl.  The end result is a hilarious and occasionally painful read.  I couldn't stop thinking about how awful it would be to be some of this girl's classmates, let alone her parents, but the book has undeniable charm.  Teen readers may see a reflection of their own emotional lives, pushed up to a level of ridiculousness that they can laugh at and gain a little catharsis from.