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Post by greer on Oct 28, 2007 9:36:16 GMT -5
^14 y 9 m? wow that's young! have the laws changed since you've gotten your permit?
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Post by aln1982 on Oct 28, 2007 9:47:17 GMT -5
^ I don't think they've changed again because my little cousin can take driver's ed - requirement to get the permit - and will be 15 in Dec. They had changed the law right before I was eligible and lowered the age. Actually, it hasn't caused a lot more accidents or anything that I know of and people don't complain about it. You can only get the permit, though, after taking a mandatory driver's ed course and can't get your license until 16 and that is only after having a second driver's ed course as follow up and so many "practice" hours of driving with a parent or licensed driver over 21.
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Post by liss31d on Oct 28, 2007 10:10:30 GMT -5
In terms of books for tweens and teens, you could try books by Jacqueline Wilson. I used to love reading them. The issues are generally quite serious but they're written with a lot of humour and sensitivity.
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Oct 28, 2007 13:07:59 GMT -5
I read Gossip Girl and The A-List but I don't like them all that much; I just want to keep up with what teens are reading. Lately I really do like The Clique, which is like Gossip Girl with twelve-year-olds, but it's pretty weird because most books for kids and teens are aimed at people a few years younger than the main characters, but I would not want someone who wasn't twelve at the very least to be reading The Clique. There are a lot of things that I like about it, but you really have to be older to notice them, and I really think too many younger kids would just think, Wow, I want to be like the beautiful, rich mean girls, and not understand how funny some things in the books are, or think much about the psychology of the characters. I'm not being disrespectful to kids when I say this, either -- I was not an immature or unintelligent ten-year-old, and I'm glad my ten-year-old self did not read these books.
Yesterday at the bookstore a woman asked me if The Clique was appropriate for a ten-year-old, and I had to say no. I felt bad about that, because I'm in favour of letting kids read whatever they want -- but if I had a ten-year-old, I wouldn't forbid her from reading them, but I wouldn't pay for them or actively encourage her to read them, either.
The cool part of all this is that they left with the first two Main Street books, and the girl herself eventually picked them out without me suggesting it, although once she did pick them up, I did say that I liked them.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Oct 28, 2007 16:27:13 GMT -5
In terms of books for tweens and teens, you could try books by Jacqueline Wilson. I used to love reading them. The issues are generally quite serious but they're written with a lot of humour and sensitivity. I used to enjoy her books, although she does touch on many "adult" issues, particularly in the Girls in Love series.
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Post by greer on Oct 28, 2007 16:35:30 GMT -5
The cool part of all this is that they left with the first two Main Street books, and the girl herself eventually picked them out without me suggesting it, although once she did pick them up, I did say that I liked them. yay main street i think main street is exactly what ten-year-olds should be reading.
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Post by sweetvalleygirl99 on Oct 28, 2007 21:02:16 GMT -5
I like reading Gossip Girl and The Clique too but the situations experienced by the characters in these books don't relate to their target audience at all. I mean really, what 12 year old is super-rich and wearing head-to-toe designer clothing? Unless you are a rich, spoiled brat (i.e. all the clique girls except Claire who's the only normal one, I like her living in the nice rich areas, you can't really relate to their stories. Same with Gossip Girl. I love the books, but after reading SV and BSC for years, I was surprised by all the racy and suggestive scenes in these books and their target audience is 15-16 year olds. Makes me wonder what kind of thoughts run through their heads when they read these books.
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Post by greer on Oct 28, 2007 21:13:29 GMT -5
^i think it's the fantasy of being one of those girls who is so freaking rich that makes these books so popular.
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Post by sweetvalleygirl99 on Oct 28, 2007 21:23:48 GMT -5
I agree Greer.
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Post by liss31d on Oct 29, 2007 6:55:59 GMT -5
I used to enjoy her books, although she does touch on many "adult" issues, particularly in the Girls in Love series.
Yes the Girls in Love series were definitely very adult. Even more weird is that they were 13 and 14 like the BSC and yet they clubbing (can you imagine the BSC going clubbing?... the thought seems quite amusing actually), they were going out with 18 year olds (except Ellie)... then again that makes me think of that 19 year old guy that Claudia was going out with :s
Jacqueline Wilson's other books like Tracey Beaker, Bad Girls, Double Act, Bed and Breakfast Star, Sleepovers, The Lottie Project, The Suitcase Kid, etc... are pretty good for the 8-12 age range. Although my favourite when I was younger was The Illustrated Mum.
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alula
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 406
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Post by alula on Oct 29, 2007 13:03:59 GMT -5
Has anyone read the Beacon Street Girls series? I just started a part time job in a children's bookstore (yea! ;D), and those are very prominently displayed. They seemed like they might be sort of BSC-like in spirit, but I haven't had time to do more than glance at them.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Oct 29, 2007 16:13:53 GMT -5
I used to enjoy her books, although she does touch on many "adult" issues, particularly in the Girls in Love series.Yes the Girls in Love series were definitely very adult. Even more weird is that they were 13 and 14 like the BSC and yet they clubbing (can you imagine the BSC going clubbing?... the thought seems quite amusing actually), they were going out with 18 year olds (except Ellie)... then again that makes me think of that 19 year old guy that Claudia was going out with :s Yeah but the "girls in love" didn't keep it clean like the BSC did! I don't think anything ever happened (haven't read those books for years) but it was certainly a consideration. I loved Tracy Beaker!
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Post by morbiddadestiny on Oct 29, 2007 16:36:14 GMT -5
kind of dislike the trend of the Gossip Girl books etc, which focus so much on social climbing and materialism. ugh, the increasing trend of books like these drive me crazy. gossip girl by itself was okay. now every time i go into the bookstore there's a new tween series glorifying an "elite" clique of rich, popular, gorgeous mary sues girls. it's such a horrible message for girls--that these are the things that are important and these are things that are worth pursuing in order to have fun in life. they're pretty funny reads once you're older, but many of the girls in the targeted audience don't really recognize satire yet (even though i think many of these books have gone beyond satire and are just trash). like, when i was 10 and saw clueless for the first time, i didn't get that it was a satire. i genuinely thought that this was how "cool" teenagers acted in high school. maybe i was just dumb. but regardless, these books drive me crazy and i wish someone could find the factory that's making all of them and shut it down. more on topic: i really enjoyed this book. i liked the friends that mal made at the school, they seemed right up her alley and really supportive. also the food she described for breakfast always makes me so hungry.
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Post by aln1982 on Oct 29, 2007 17:04:48 GMT -5
^ I had forgotten the food descriptions. I'll definitely have to reread soon. ;D I also liked Mal's friends and wish they would have all been in more books. Too bad they didn't develop this whole arc for longer.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Oct 29, 2007 18:24:01 GMT -5
kind of dislike the trend of the Gossip Girl books etc, which focus so much on social climbing and materialism. ugh, the increasing trend of books like these drive me crazy. gossip girl by itself was okay. now every time i go into the bookstore there's a new tween series glorifying an "elite" clique of rich, popular, gorgeous mary sues girls. it's such a horrible message for girls--that these are the things that are important and these are things that are worth pursuing in order to have fun in life. they're pretty funny reads once you're older, but many of the girls in the targeted audience don't really recognize satire yet (even though i think many of these books have gone beyond satire and are just trash). like, when i was 10 and saw clueless for the first time, i didn't get that it was a satire. i genuinely thought that this was how "cool" teenagers acted in high school. Me too ;D I think books for tweens have always had a somewhat negative message. The Sweet Valley books were atrocious in that regard.
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