ttyl by Lauren Myracle

Myracle, Lauren. ttyl (Talk To You Later).
Amulet Books. 2005.
ISBN 0810987880
$6.95. Paperback. 233 pages.

Readers Annotation
Maddie, Angela and Zoe are best friends approaching their sophomore year of high school with high expectations. Their mistakes along the way may cause arguments, but it also brings them together.

Plot Summary
Three best friends (“The Winsome Threesome”) embarks on their sophomore year of high school. Maddie (Mad Maddie) has just gotten her drivers license, and has a pretty bad temper. Angela (SnowAngel) loves to be in love, and pursues boys relentlessly. Zoe (zoegirl) the good girl of the group finds herself in a dangerous situation with a teacher. The story told completely in IM (instant messaging) covers only a small part of the school year. Within that short time (September 7 to November 20) the girls each experience a traumatic event that nearly drives them apart. Maddie attends a frat party with a Jana (the high school queen bee), only to get drunk for the first time. She ends up dancing topless on a table. Soon after pictures start appearing on the Internet much to the girl’s horror. Angela thinks she finds the boy of her dreams in Rob, but he turns out to be a jerk. When she spins into depression her friends come to her rescue, but it’s only when she finds another crush that she is healed. Zoe, the “good girl” of the bunch, likes going to church with her 24-year-old teacher Mr. H. The naïve Zoe does have a little crush on the teacher, but she is unprepared when he hits on her. This event brings the girls back together again after a tumultuous couple of months. As the story ends the girls are planning a camping trip together during Thanksgiving break.

Critical Evaluation
Although Lauren Myracle states that she wanted to write a book that was true to life for teenage girls, what she has done is create three characters that a single aspects of one overall personality. Each character is only one part of the whole, and that creates characters that have personalities that are stilted and unreal. The overall format of the book is a take off of earlier pioneering works of experimental literature. Told in short IM missives, the story can be difficult to follow for a novice. Overall, this story worries me. My feeling is that this is a missed opportunity to talk about issues of love, sex, and safety with our young women. The entire time I was reading this novel I was thinking – where are the parents? But maybe that is the point.

Information about the author
Lauren Myracle was born on May 15, 1969. You can find out more about her on her lovely website at http://laurenmyracle.com/index.html. She also has an account on MySpace.

Genre
Contemporary Fiction

Curriculum ties
None

Challenge Issues
Sex, alcohol, language, and bad driving

Challenge defense ideas
· Become familiar with the book and its content.
· Refer to the collection development policy of the library.
· Refer to reviews from Booklist, School Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly available for viewing on amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/ttyl-Talk-You-Later-Internet-Girls/dp/0810987880/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258313225&sr=8-1
· Try to get reviews of the book from teens that have read it.

Booktalking Ideas
1. Discuss the format of the book.
2. Talk about the characters Maddie, Angela and Zoe.

Reading Level/Age
Young Adult. Ages 13 and up

Why I included this title
This book is included in the 2005 ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.