Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging is a 1999 young adult novel by English author Louise Rennison. The book is the first of ten books in the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series. The book was adapted into a film, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, released in the United Kingdom and the United States in July 2008.
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Louise Rennison |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Confessions of Georgia Nicolson |
| Genre | Young adult humour, epistolary novel |
| Publisher | Piccadilly Press |
Publication date | 24 June 1999 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 160 |
| ISBN | 1-85340-519-1 |
| OCLC | 40980419 |
| Followed by | It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers |
Plot summary
editGeorgia, a teenager, lives with her mother, father, three-year-old sister Libby, and her wild cat, Angus, whom the family found on a holiday to Scotland. Georgia bumps into the popular and attractive Robbie (the "Sex-God"), while helping her best friend, Jas, subtly stalk his brother at the grocery store where he works. The problem is that he is older and has a girlfriend, Lindsay, an older girl who wears a thong and bra padding and secretly claims to be engaged to him. Robbie eventually dumps Lindsay, but tells Georgia that he should not date her because she is too young. In an effort to appear more mature, Georgia tries to bleach a strip of her hair blonde, but it comes off in her hand. Fortunately for her, Robbie is attracted to her and finds her eccentricity amusing and endearing and suggests taking it slow. However, Georgia's mum comes in at the very end and announces that they have tickets to go to New Zealand for the summer to visit her father, who has gone there searching for work, putting a damper on Georgia's new summer romance.
Censorship
editThe book is number 35 on the American Library Association's list of frequently challenged or banned books from 2000-2009.[1] Georgia's frequently disrespectful attitude towards her parents and other authority figures have contributed to the challenges, as well as sexual content, profanity, age inappropriateness and the references to homosexuality.[2][3]
In 2009, the book was challenged at the Maplewood Middle School Library in Wisconsin, leading the school to require parental consent before allowing students to have access to it.[4]
In 2022, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging was listed among 52 books banned by the Alpine School District following the implementation of Utah law H.B. 374, “Sensitive Materials In Schools."[5] Forty-two percent of removed books “feature LBGTQ+ characters and or themes.”[6][7] Many of the books were removed because they were considered to contain pornographic material according to the new law, which defines porn using the following criteria:
- "The average person" would find that the material, on the whole, "appeals to prurient interest in sex"[8]
- The material "is patently offensive in the description or depiction of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, sadomasochistic abuse, or excretion"[8]
- The material, on the whole, "does not have serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value."[8]
Awards
editIt won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Bronze Award,[9] was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award,[10] and was voted number 127 in the BBC's Big Read poll to find the UK's favourite book.[11] It was also named a Printz Honor book in 2001.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009". Ala.org. 26 March 2013.
- ^ "Books on Trial: Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging". Ojs.library.dal.ca. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "Childrens – HarperCollins". Thepageturn.com.
- ^ "Marshall University Libraries - Banned Book - Louise Rennison's Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging". Marshall.edu. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012.
- ^ "Ban on 52 Books in Largest Utah School District is a Worrisome Escalation of Censorship". PEN America. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ^ "School District Removes 52 Books From Libraries". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ^ "Ban on 52 Books in Largest Utah School District is a Worrisome Escalation of Censorship". PEN America. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ^ a b c Mullahy, Brian (28 July 2022). "Alpine School District pulls dozens of books from school library shelves". KUTV. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ^ "BEST SUNDAY COMIC STRIPS OF ALL TIME". 31 July 2018. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "The Branford Boase Award and The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition". Branfordboaseaward.org.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "BBC - The Big Read - Top 200 Books". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ American Library Association (2010). "Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books". Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
