ttyl

This book has become such an Issue in my shared K-8 library -- the 5th graders desperately want to read it, and the elementary librarian tells them they need to wait until middle school -- that I decided I needed to read the dang thing finally.

It is indeed not appropriate for 5th grade. By page 11 the girls have chatted about shaving pubic hair (and the grossness of not doing so; they refer to the girlfriend of one of their brothers thereafter as "pelt-woman") and female ejaculation. I feel a-ok steering kids younger than 7th grade away.

But honestly, I'm seriously considering getting it out of my collection entirely. That makes me deeply uncomfortable; my usual philosophy is that kids should try what they want, with guidance, and show more they'll self-censor pretty well. I want to keep popular titles around, especially the ones that work so well for reluctant readers.

My problems with this book, though, aren't about sexual frankness. It's the cattiness, the strict policing of girl behavior, and the way they do it all under the guise of fighting back against the real mean girls. I kept waiting for the text to acknowledge that the main characters are being just as bitchy as the other girls they bitch about, but except in some subtle ways that are easy for a middle schooler to miss, it did not.

That sort of attitude is way more insidious than the "that's too scary" or "that female ejaculation stuff sounds inappropriate" that makes a kid put a book down. In something like [b:The Clique|890143|The Clique (The Clique, #1)|Lisi Harrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347819098s/890143.jpg|541421], the protagonists clearly are the "mean girls" -- readers find their cartoonish rich bitchiness delicious, but they don't aspire to be those girls. In TTYL, though, Zoe, Angela, and Maddie are portrayed as "wronged"; the girls they complain about are the problem and therefore they're justified in being horrible to them. My students rarely have enough perspective to get that everyone feels like Zoe, Angela, and Maddie sometimes, even the people they "hate," and that the world is a worse place when we police the styles of other women's pubic hair or blame flirty girls for boys' infidelity.

I'm torn. I get why this book is popular, and I don't actually think it's junk -- there are some real issues here about choosing crushes wisely, and getting in over one's head, and supporting one's friends. But they're high school issues, despite the cutesy cover, and I think my students need more life experience before they're ready to accept this version of high school as just one possibility. show less

I was inspired to read this book because of an article that appeared in the New York Times about the author, PLUS the fact that she is a Colorado author (PLUS the fact that I read her searing Shine this summer for my literature class). The book is told entirely in IM messages between three high school sophomores who vow to "b together 4ever!!!," which is a cool 21st century teen take on the epistolary novel. Their friendship is tested by typical high school issues -- true love crushes, extremely poor judgment, one of the girls under the seductive influence of a cool-but-mean girl, and family pressures. This novel seems light and bubblegummy, but actually I was impressed with the very real issues tackled, with the weightier topics show more discussed by the friends, and with the underlying strength of true friendship, which is worth its weight in gold no matter how old you are. As the mother of a YA I am finding it hard sometimes to read YA literature, and at first I cringed at some aspects of the book and imagining my daughter reading it, but she is reading it now -- with my blessing -- and I think we'll have some valuable discussions as a result.

I loved this quote by the author in the NY Times article in response to parents furious about her books and their subject matter: “Give your kid some credit for being smart — just because they read about something doesn’t mean they will do it. Fiction is a safe place to explore.”

NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/fashion/lauren-myracle-calling-it-as-she-sees-...

Myracle, L. (2004). Ttyl. New York: Amulet Books. show less

While it is occasionally more annoying than engaging, and sometimes the dialogue rings a little false, for the most part Myracle has constructed a nice novel exploring the politics of high school, the freakiness of adolescence, and the importance of good friends. The IM conversations are a clever gimmick for the book, one that mostly works, although it is sometimes more like an adult writing the way she thinks teenagers would write than the way they would actually write themselves.

As far as all the "fuss" goes, there are some curse words in the book -- although not nearly as much as you would expect from high school sophomores. None of the girls actually have sex, although they do talk (and joke) about it a lot. Some of the conflicts of show more the book read a bit like an after school special (high school teacher flirting with girl! racy pictures from a party emailed to everyone in the school! popular girl is mean then nice then mean!), but the informal and first person nature of the instant messages cuts the drama a little and lets the issues be explored in a relatively realistic and sensitive manner.

So: totally not as bad as I thought it would be, and worth picking up if you like young adult lit and are interested in what the kids are up to these days...

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2009/02/ttyl-2004.html ] show less

_ttyl_ tells about a few months in the lives of three 15-year-old sophomores - Angela, Maddie and Zoe - who've been best friends for years. However, when sophomore year begins, each girl faces some serious conflict which challenges their friendships.

This whole story is told in instant messages between the girls, complete with IM slang, which can get a bit confusing. What I found very fascinating about this story is the whole idea of unreliable narrators - everything the reader learns about the events in the story is filtered through the eyes of the character telling the story, so we get zero unbiased views. I also liked the dynamics between the characters, as well as the way they truly looked out for one another, even while fighting. I show more read _ttyl_ for a teen book discussion group, and I'm excited to get the group's views on the book: did they think the format was a good way to tell the story? What are their thoughts on privacy and the internet? Do they, like Angela, ever wonder "how much of other ppl r just images they made up. like maybe ppl lie about all kinds of things - how would we ever know?" show less

On the first day of tenth grade, best friends Maddie (mad maddie), Angela (SnowAngel), and Zoe (zoegirl) vow not to let school stupidness get them down... or split them apart. But as the weeks pass and the instant messages accumulate, it's clear that tenth grade will be a roller coaster ride of boy temptation, math torture, donut emergenices, and Queen Bee encounters.
Then a jerky boy sends peppy Angela into the dumps, tough Maddie makes a mistake that has the whole school talking, and good girl Zoe gets in over her head with a flirty teacher. Will the winsome threesome make it through the year?

This is the kind of book I would have liked back in... Grade 3? Maybe... But now? Ohmigosh nooooo.

If you can't tell, this book is aimed towards middle school pre-teens who are gossip-y and love drama. It's a great book for that soap-opera loving pre-teen who would DIE for Pretty Little Liars and that kind of book/television show.

The book feels like a journal of some kid who's just wailing about how much their life sucks and how they will literally DIE if they do not get that nail polish they asked for. Like, literally. Super literally. Not like, fake literally. These girls are whiny, superficial and feel like the popular girls who go "OHMIIIIIGOOOOOOSH." It felt whiny.

It is a book I wanted to read when it came out though, but I am now show more not the age group for it. I completely understand why and can appreciate that, but it's not for me. Before the haters jump in... I am allowed to go back and read a book I wanted to read but could not due to my financial situation being a teenager without money due to helping a sick parent financially. I don't have to like the book. I can read a book that wasn't aimed for me and see if I like it. Whoo, let the haters roll in....

One out of five stars. show less

Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com

TTYL by Lauren Myracle is a young adult book written entirely in computer IM language. The change in colors and fonts for each of the three girls make it easy to read, and the presentation and voice are both highly appealing to the teen reader.

Snow Angel, Mad Maddie, and Zoegirl have been best friends for, like, four years. This is the story of their friendship and their commitment to be there for one another, no matter what. Like when Snow Angel finds her true love (not the same one from a couple of weeks earlier), and falls apart when he cruelly dumps her. Like when Mad Maddie, in an effort to try to be in the "it" crowd, goes to a party, gets drunk, and finds herself in the middle of an show more Internet scandal as a result. Like when Zoegirl trusts the wrong teacher and finds herself in hot water.

Over and over, the girls come through for one another, even if they are in the middle of a fight. The emotions and relationships are real and the dialogue is cutting edge. The reader will most likely identify with at least one of the girls. You'll care for them so much you'll feel great relief when they bail each other out of one predicament after another.

This was a fun read and I can't wait to read the next books in this series. show less