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

The first of Ms. Rennison’s growing series about British n’er-do-well teenager, Georgia Nicolson, this diary-format book was a laugh-out-loud winner for me. Featuring one year in the life of the most moody, angsty teen one might ever meet, the book drips with sarcasm. Her interest in school is in the negative numbers, her parents are loons (in her personal opinion) and her overweight feral cat, Angus, has the instincts of a Siberian Tiger. What little human compassion can be found in this girl is reserved for her little sister – sticky and slobbery, but cute. Georgia’s great efforts at life are spent trying to be friends with fellow teens she doesn’t really care for, trying to get fashionable hair, and pursuing the impossible guy … the attractive older “sex god” who works at the local green grocer’s. Taken at face value, it could be seen as whiney, but one could never take this book at face value. The stuttering additions to most of the entries (1 and 2am one liners) only add more hilarity to the over the top “drama” covering each entry. And don’t forget to read the “British-American” glossary at the back. It had me on the floor.