Jay's Journal, by the anonymous aka Beatrice Sparks, PhD

[rachelmanija]

yhlee and I visited the YA section of Vroman's Bookshop in a quest for the ultimately awesomely angsty YA novel.

She proposed that single-syllable, single-word titles often predict great and melodramatic angst. For example, the oevre of Ellen Hopkins-- in verse-- Crank (meth addiction), Burned (child abuse), and Impulse (suicide). (I see that her

Comments

Renegade sperm

[jonquil]

I'm guessing they wear leather jackets and ride motorcycles?

The saber-toothed crotch crickets are leaving their abode.

[jonquil]

"I FINALLY got rid of that case of crabs."

Re: The saber-toothed crotch crickets are leaving their abode.

[rachelmanija]

Ohh, I think that must be what that meant! I had no idea.

Re: The saber-toothed crotch crickets are leaving their abode.

[thomasyan]

Why crickets? That to me implies chirping, which I am pretty sure lice don't do.

Or is that part of the characterizing of Jay? Or the author not thinking things through.

Um, I don't think I am going to try reading this book to find out which. But if it gets made into anime, I'll have to drag friends over to watch it, and perhaps make a drinking game out of it.

Re: The saber-toothed crotch crickets are leaving their abode.

[jonquil]

Because "crickets" is more satisfying to say than "lice", especially when preceded by "crotch".

[sovay]

*random icon approval*

Also:

The saber-toothed crotch crickets are leaving their abode.

Eeek.

[chomiji]

>> I don't remember crotch crickets. <

XD

And I really don't see how you could have forgotten them, if they'd been there ... .

[sophia_helix]

Hahaha. I never read Go Ask Alice but it was always on the paperback rack at the school library, along with others of that ilk. Did you ever read A Summer to Die? It's actually decently written, for a story about a sensitive, artistic girl whose popular, beautiful, and slightly-resented older sister dies of cancer. And I looooved the hurts-so-good bruise feeling of reading and rereading Jacob Have I Loved as a kid. Which is, hm, again about the sensitive, underappreciated sister except x10. I also happen to know my sister read that book and also identified with the protagonist, so, heeee.

(PS: Whenever anyone says "agony" that song becomes impossibly earwormed.)

[rachelmanija]

Yes, I did! It's by Lois Lowry, and is actually pretty good. She dies artistically of leukemia.