Dancing In My Nuddy-Pants is the fourth book in the series that follows fourteen year old Georgia as she stalks boys into liking her. In this book Georgia is struggling with the fact that she kissed Dave the Laugh at the end of book three, even though she has the ultimate Sex God boyfriend (there is no actual sex involved, it's just what she calls him because he is a rock star... kind of).
To say this book is plot heavy would be a lie. It really does feel like the diary of a normal life. But that is not to say that Georgia doesn't have an arc. It's very interesting, because so much of Georgia's time is devoted to non-conformity (she goes out of her way to wear her school beret in the funniest way possible), but her arc is about her conforming to her own and other's expectations of her love life. As usually happens when one tries to conform to anything... it does not go well. The end is actually quite brilliant in a way that can sneak right by you if you aren't paying attention.
The disconnect between what a character is telling us and what is actually happening is one of my favorite parts of storytelling. This book is a great example of how that is done well. Georgia is probably the most self-centered narrator I have ever read. To be fair, we're reading her diary, so I don't find it off-putting, although I know people who don't read these books because they do (looking at you Romo). But even though the entire book is Georgia-centric, we have very clear images of all of the characters from the major (Mutti, Jaz) to the minor (Gorgy Henri, Mr. Across the Road). Unlike Georgia, we aren't blindsided when the SG (Sex God) comes out as a sensitive emo boy who cares about the environment and the world and not the sexy rock star Georgia wants him to be.
I am so glad I started the series from the beginning. They are hilarious--I always laugh out loud (it was only a problem the first time around when I was reading in a lecture). But they are a lot more than fluff. I didn't expect to learn so much about writing in my rereading of this series, because they are light and fun. They remind me that good writing doesn't have to draw attention to itself.
This book counts toward the 100+ challenge, Read Me Baby One More Time, and 7 in a series for the Hogwarts Reading Challenge. Track my progress on my 2011 Challenges Page.
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True, I did find her super annoying the first time I tried to read it. But then I watched the movie (which was completely dorky- and I loved it) so I tried again. I've read up through five. Your reading them again has inspired me and I've requested the last five from my library. :)
ReplyDeleteI knew I was intrigued by this book just by the name but your review made it sound awesome. I read a lot of heavy books sometimes that I forget books actually can be just light and funny and still be really good! And I loved what you said about writing not having to always draw attention to itself. - so true!
ReplyDelete@Romo - I'm so glad you gave them another try. It blew my mind when you didn't like them (though I suspect it was partly just to annoy me). I'm on the fifth right now.
ReplyDelete@Bitner - These books are so fun! I read them every time I need a book to cheer me up. If you check them out start with the first one: Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging. :)