Are you there God? It's me Awww Damn
edith head
5,106 Posts
Tune in at 7PM tonight to listen to the favorite radio show of Judy Blume, famed puberty novelist.[/b] 
"I lub that raucous rawk shit and thee acid folk goes well with my tea & newspaper son." - Judy Blume, 1981
93.7FM San Franciscowww.westaddradio.com for live webcast
"I lub that raucous rawk shit and thee acid folk goes well with my tea & newspaper son." - Judy Blume, 198193.7FM San Franciscowww.westaddradio.com for live webcast
Comments
best shit ever!!!!!!!
amazing!!
Superfudge was dope.
h
Awesome flyer...When I brought this book home in third grade, I put a book sleeve on it so my parents didn't know what I was reading. I will have to post that article I read a few weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal about the new Young Adult Fiction...Scandalous!
I also have one of Judy Blume's adult books...It's called "Wifey" with the OG cover (naked torso aka sexy thorax with a rose).
I saw a great TV segment on just that on a book show and it was the war of the moms.
Too much information at an early age! Encourages reckless behaviour by making it seem normal! vs. This is a healthy way for young women to learn about sex! Pretending it doesn't exist leads to misinformation hence dangerous behaviour!
Wifey and Lace did the rounds amongst all the girls in grade school.
This is the article...I want to read some of these books (not the incest one, though).
June 24, 2005
'You're Reading...What?'
This season, publishers are rolling out more volumes for teens that are full of heavy themes, from binge drinking to incest.
By SALLY BEATTY
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 24, 2005; Page W1
Hilary Armstrong was happy to see her 12-year-old daughter Katherine reading at the kitchen table one afternoon -- until, that is, she glanced at the back of the book jacket. "I was mortified," says Mrs. Armstrong. The book, which her daughter got from a friend, had a blurb on the back that read, "After all, no one really wants to go to college a virgin."
The San Francisco mom allowed Katherine to finish the novel, one of the popular "Gossip Girl" series, but started keeping closer tabs on her daughter's reading material. She wishes the book business would help out. "It would be nice if they had a big rating on it, like at the movies," Mrs. Armstrong says.
It's the summer book season: Do you know what your child is reading? To appeal to teens brought up on suggestive music videos and cable-TV shows, publishers are releasing more books full of mature themes and unflinching portrayals of sexual activity, with young protagonists the same age as their target readers. One publisher is venturing beyond its titles on dragons and bunnies with "Claiming Georgia Tate," about a 12-year-old girl whose father pressures her into a sexual relationship and makes her dress like a prostitute. In "Looking for Alaska," prep-school students watch pornography and pass the time binge-drinking. Coming this fall is "Teach Me," in which a male high-school teacher has sex with a student.
This season's book offerings for young adults include novels about basketball and elves as well as more risqu?? titles.
And kids seem to be responding: Young-adult fiction -- which has come to be associated with the edgy titles -- is one of the book industry's healthiest segments. Targeting the 12-and-up age group, the segment's sales are up 23% since 1999, according to estimates by industry analyst Albert Greco, a Fordham University marketing professor. (Adult sales in the same period were down slightly more than 1%, according to the Book Industry Study Group.) The young-adult category's top seller by far is the "Harry Potter" franchise, and when the series' last book came out in 2003, Mr. Greco estimates it accounted for almost half of the segment's $406 million in sales. But for children who've outgrown young wizards or just want something else to read, publishers are releasing more risqu?? titles in the young-adult segment, many of them aimed at teen girls. Last year, even without a new "Potter" book, overall revenue in the young-adult segment increased to $410 million, estimates Mr. Greco. In all, there were more than 21,000 new kids' titles released in 2004 -- double the number in 2002, according to R.R. Bowker in New Providence, N.J., which collects publishing data.
To offer some parental guidance in this fast-changing arena, Weekend Journal sorted through more than 100 of the season's talked-about teen titles. We kept our eye out for literary merit and great stories, and also looked for themes that parents might want to know about. One discovery: The subject matter is rarely clear from a book's title or graphics. "Rainbow Party" features tubes of lipstick on the cover -- though it isn't about girls discussing makeup, but a teen oral-sex party. We also found that girls are the main target audience here, reflecting publishers' belief that more teen girls than boys read. (The idea is that boys stick to fantasy epics.) That helps explain why there are more controversial girl-oriented titles, like "Alice on Her Way," about a 16-year-old who spends a weekend in Manhattan on a class trip.
Publishers say the mature material simply reflects the culture teens are exposed to today, and may help them to process situations they've heard about or experienced. In some cases, they add, the themes help advance a moral message: "Rainbow Party," for example, teaches children about the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, says Rick Richter, president of Simon & Schuster's children's division, which published the title. He adds that he'd be happy to have his 13-year-old daughter read it.
Industry analysts say editors have been emboldened to go beyond the bad behavior of the '80s "Sweet Valley" novels, because of a few risqu??-fiction success stories. Last year's "How I Live Now," aimed at children 12 and older and featuring an affair between teen cousins, won the 2005 Michael L. Printz Award for young-adult literature. Many more have been commercial hits, including the "Gossip Girl" series, for readers 15 and up, with seven installments since 2001 and more than two million books in print. (Most young-adult titles sell fewer than 20,000 copies, analysts say.) The "A-List" novels, about rich teens looking for trouble, have had 945,000 books printed since 2003, while last year's "The Clique," a chronicle of spoiled middle-school girls, is already a three-book series with 1.15 million copies in print.
The risqu?? titles are at the center of a mounting debate, as bookstores throughout the country struggle with whether to stock them. Barnes & Noble and Borders, for example, carry the "Gossip Girl" series, but both have declined to stock "Rainbow Party" in stores. (Both retailers sell the books online.) On the other hand, some independent sellers are invoking the First Amendment in defending their decision to stock such titles. The four-store Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops in Milwaukee, stood firm recently when a mother of three called to criticize them for carrying "Rainbow Party" and threatened to take her business elsewhere. "If we had said we wouldn't carry it, the phones would be lighting up from customers because we didn't carry it," says Elly Gore, the chain's children's-book buyer.
For our review, we talked to retailers, publishers and book clubs to come up with some of the summer's most talked-about titles. We checked them out ourselves and also asked a panel of readers to comment on content and literary merit. We then gave each our own parental-guidance advisory. Here's our list, starting with books with the most adult themes:
CLAIMING GEORGIA TATE
By Gigi Amateau
Candlewick Press, 208 pages
$15.99, in stores
The Plot: After her grandmother dies, young Georgia is sent to live with an abusive father she hardly knows. He passes her off as his girlfriend. A transvestite comes to her rescue.
The Buzz: Ms. Amateau says the transvestite character was influenced by the "compassion and empathy" she encountered working with AIDS patients in the early 1990s. The novel marks an ambitious push into the young adult market by Candlewick, a publisher of books like "Guess How Much I Love You," about two bunnies competing to share their affection. Candlewick is giving it a first-print run of 15,000, high for an unknown author.
Reviewer's Take: Our 28-year-old reader called it grim but uplifting.
Parental Guidance: Strong caution for mature subject matter. The story is told from the girl's perspective, so young readers may not understand everything she's experiencing. The publisher recommends it for children 14 and older.
RAINBOW PARTY
By Paul Ruditis
Simon Pulse, 248 pages
$12.99, in stores
The Plot: A promiscuous high-school sophomore plans an oral sex party.
The Buzz: One o f the summer's most contentious teen titles, though some librarians say it could spur parent-child discussions. "He brought to the surface a pretty serious problem in many communities that no one wants to talk about," says Pam Spencer Holley, a retired librarian in Hallwood, Va. The author's name may be familiar: He's written books based on TV shows "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Queer as Folk."
Reviewer's Take: Sex scenes between boys and girls, and boys and boys, made our 40-year-old reviewer feel squeamish.
Parental Guidance: Simon & Schuster says this is for children 14 and older. We suggest parents read it first.
LOOKING FOR ALASKA
By John Green
Dutton, 272 pages
$15.99, in stores
The Plot: A teen boy at boarding school has a frustrating relationship with a complex girl named Alaska.
The Buzz: This debut novel Mr. Green started when he was 23 -- and finished at 26 -- is set in a school similar to one the author attended in Alabama. Soon he may be able to give up his day job as production editor at the American Library Association: After receiving an $8,000 advance for "Alaska," he signed a contract for two more young-adult novels at $20,000 each.
Reviewer's Take: The plot is a bit thin, but the tension between the boy and a strong-willed girl is very real, said our 27-year-old reader.
Parental Guidance: Caution. Some stores are stocking this book, marketed for children 14 and older, in the adult section as well. It has sex, smoking and profanity -- but consequences, too.
THE CLOUD CHAMBER
By Joyce Maynard
Atheneum, 274 pages
$16.95, in stores
The Plot: A teenager grows up on a failing dairy farm in 1960s Montana and deals with his father's attempted suicide.
The Buzz: Ms. Maynard is best known for "At Home in the World," her 1999 tell-all about her romance with the reclusive, older author J.D. Salinger. This is her first book with Atheneum, a Simon & Schuster imprint known for literary works.
Reviewer's Take: "Cheesy dialogue and narration that talks down to readers," said our 22-year-old reviewer.
Parental Guidance: Publisher says this is for ages 11 to 14, though suicide subject may upset some children.
THE MINISTER'S DAUGHTER
By Julie Hearn
Atheneum, 263 pages
$16.95, in stores
The Plot: In 1645, during the English Civil War, a teenage healer named Nell is falsely accused of witchcraft by a minister's daughter.
The Buzz: A break for the author, a British journalist who was at one point so cash-strapped she went on state assistance. Ms. Hearn knows her topic: Her courses at Oxford included a history of witchcraft. The book has made an award list in the United Kingdom, and she received a low six-figure advance on this and a second book from her U.S. publisher.
Reviewer's Take: Our 22-year-old reviewer called it a well-written historical novel that reads like a mystery.
Parental Guidance: Publisher says this is for ages 12 and older. Its themes are weighty, but handled discreetly.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
By Peter Abrahams
HarperCollins, 384 pages
$15.99, in stores
The Plot: Ingrid, 13, is cast in a school play and gets caught up in a murder investigation.
The Buzz: This debut children's book from bestselling thriller writer Mr. Abrahams underscores an odd discovery: When established authors of books for grown-ups write for children, we found, they tend to avoid the explicit content found in works by newer authors. HarperCollins encouraged Mr. Abrahams to write for children because one of his earlier books, "The Tutor," featured scenes from the perspective of a 10-year-old girl.
Mr. Abrahams says he kept things clean on the advice of his mother, also a writer. "She said, 'Don't use too much sex or violence,'" says Mr. Abrahams. "So when you do use it, they still have punch."
Reviewer's Take: Good suspense, our 10-year-old reader said.
Parental Guidance: A pretty safe pick -- it centers on a murder, but there is no blood or gore. For children ages 10 and older, the publisher says.
ELDEST
By Christopher Paolini
Alfred A. Knopf, 704 pages
$21, August
The Plot: A boy and his dragon confront a dangerous land of elves.
The Buzz: Retailers expect this fantasy novel to be one of the biggest children's books of the year behind the latest "Harry Potter," which comes out July 16. "Eldest" is the second installment in a series by 21-year-old Mr. Paolini, a home-schooled writer who started the first, "Eragon," when he was 15. That book went on to be a surprise bestseller and now is being made into a movie by Fox 2000. Knopf has scheduled a giant first-print run of one million for "Eldest."
Reviewer's Take: Our advanced eight-year-old reader couldn't wait to read it, and loved the magic and swordsmanship.
Parental Guidance: The publisher says the book is for ages 12 and older. There's nothing here beyond the typical fantasy-book gore, which didn't bother reviewer Sam.
LAST SHOT: A FINAL FOUR MYSTERY
By John Feinstein
Alfred A. Knopf, 256 pages
$16.95, in stores
The Plot: Two students win a writing contest. The prize is a trip to the college basketball finals, where they overhear a plot to throw the championship.
The Buzz: Bestselling author Mr. Feinstein says he wrote "Last Shot" for his then 10-year-old son, who found it tough to read his father's grown-up books. When Mr. Feinstein's agent approached his longtime publisher, Little, Brown, they were "lukewarm" -- so she went to Knopf, which offered him a $125,000 advance. Little, Brown says it countered with a "modest" lower number because it already had a children's sports author in its stable.
Reviewer's Take: Great plot twists, our 10-year-old reader said.
Parental Guidance: The publisher says this is for ages 10 and older, but it's also safe for younger advanced readers.
ADAM CANFIELD OF THE SLASH
By Michael Winerip
Candlewick Press, 326 pages
$15.99, in stores
The Plot: An overscheduled junior-high-school student takes on the establishment through his school newspaper.
The Buzz: This Pulitzer Prize-winning author knows the education system both as a father of four and as national education correspondent for The New York Times. This is his first book for children.
Reviewer's Take: "You just wanted to keep reading," says 11-year-old Caitlin, who works on her school newspaper. "I could really see everything that was going on in my head."
Parental Guidance: It's for children age 8 to 12, and it may appeal especially to parents who want to provide a model of how to stand up to authority.
URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111956889635168198,00.html
I never read Lace...I was a big Norma Klein fan, though. I was so sad when I learned she died, like I lost one of my friends.
Sorry to hijack your announcement, Audrey!
Did you read Deenie by Blume? That was a favourite.
Have you read Daddy was a Number Runner by Louise Merriweather? I read that when I was 11 or 12 - very intense and scary and real. I read it again last year and it blew me away.
Alan and Naomi by Myron Levoy is really good as well.
(Yes, sorry Audrey.)
haha s'okay. Judy Blume is
Deenie was especially ballsy
I made my mother check my spine for a few weeks after reading it and then she lost her patience and it stopped.
[color:white](or with shig, who's pretty much a chick anyway.) [/color]
(FILE UNDER: Total Letdown!)
anyways, im just trying to say, "let's have a boobie contest!!!"
::hmmpff!::
boys!
shig in the closet, part 1[/b]
missbassie: "Ohmigod, I love Judy Blume."
Ms Damn: "Me too!"
coselmed: "Hey, me too!"
missbassie: "haha, that's so funny."
Ms Damn: "haha, I know, right."
coselmed: "haha, wow. Amazing."
missbassie: [laughing.]
Ms Damn: [laughing hysterically.]
coselmed: [laughing uncontrollably.]
missbassie: "Ohmigod, Audrey!"
Ms Damn: "What? What!"
coselmed: "You were laughing so hard your boobie popped out of your shirt."
missbassie: "Here, let me help you."
Ms Damn: "Well, uh, okay."
coselmed: "No, like this."
grandpa shig: [coughs from inside the closet]
TO BE CONTINUED...
i laughed so hard i started a pillow fight on s-s-s-s-s-satin sheets
getouttaherewiddat!
but i'm tuned in at work.
thanks for the music!
edit* really feeling these records reminds me of the days i used to sit around zed records in long beach and play through stacks of records all day. (trying to keep the post count down, i have a feeling shig and bam are working on a 5 pager)*
And you wonder why more women don't post here, sicko!
Well, that and you know, Shig is one catty bitch. He doesn't like having to compete for attention... ladies watch out, he'll stab you in the neck if he thinks you're moving in on his turf. Why you think Lily stopped posting.... ????
lurkers, jerking off furiously
lurkers, jerking off furiously
lurkers, jerking off furiously
lurkers, jerking off furiously
lurkers, jerking off furiously
lurkers, jerking off furiously
now playing NAZZ - S/T
I knew Bam was involved
i had a soft spot for Susan Cooper.
Freakin hilarious. This exact scene happened in last week's The Family Guy only it was Quagmire instead of shig, and he got too impatient and left before the boobie contest.
to all you other pervs: grow up!
guuuuuurrl! she showed up to my spot and had the nerve to wear the same suede italian stilettos as me. i had to take her out. had to.
::i aint talking bout prada & miu miu, mang::