What To Read After... Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

Published on: 05 January 2022

Louise Rennison was a tremendously funny author who always seemed to understand exactly what teenagers were thinking. If your teen adored all ten books in the Georgia Nicolson series, and others by Louise such as Withering Tights, what might they enjoy now?

For laughing out loud...

Beginning with other hilarious reads, Katie Kirby’s The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks sees Lottie make a bit of a cringeworthy start to secondary school with plenty of laughs; In Girl in Real Life by Tamsin Winter, Eva’s parents’ vlog All About Eva has documented everything. But when Mum vlogs about Eva’s first period, the embarrassment is too much to bear and Eva is forced to take drastic action in order to get her life back.

In Catherine Wilkins’ The Weird Friends Fan Club, Erin is often the butt of unkind "jokes" by Grace and her #girlsquad until they’re made to do a school project together, and in Pretty Funny by Rebecca Elliott, Haylah has been teased about her weight for years, ending up claiming the cruel nickname ‘Pig’. Yet Haylah would love to be a stand-up comedian.

For fame... and family

As ever, family tends to feature prominently in books for 12-14 years olds, and Holly Smale examines the life of a celebrity family in Happy Girl Lucky in which Hope Valentine navigates the challenges of living with her famous siblings. In Sister Switch by Beth Garrod, sisters Lily and Erin are forced to understand the other’s point of view when a trip to the salon ends in a body swap, and in Jacqueline Wilson’s Love, Frankie carefully explores a young teen coming to terms with their own confusion about their sexuality whilst coping with the trials and tribulations of growing up.

From A Different Sort of Normal by Abigail Balfe

For diverse experiences of growing up

Some great recent reads that may help teens navigate life are Abigail Balfe’s memoir A Different Sort of Normal, an honest, funny, touching and sometimes sad account of her childhood, following her autism diagnosis at the age of 33.

In Shades of Scarlet, by Anne Fine, Scarlet’s parents split up and give her a journal to write her feelings in. Full of insight about friendships, families, divorce and growing up and what that really means, it’s also really funny.

YouTube and TV star Nikki Lilly’s inspiring memoir Come On, Life also describes how she became so successful whilst dealing with a debilitating condition, and encourages readers to have fun, be brave and above all, be kind.

For finding new friends

Last, in Lize Meddings’ The Sad Ghost Club A sad ghost debates whether to go to a party that, seemingly, everyone at school has been invited to. At the party, Sad Ghost finds Socks, another ghost that finds it hard to connect with the others. Can two sad ghosts reach out to others like them and find their kindred spirits?