Customer Reviews

Teen Angst? Naaah: A Quasi-Autobiography (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read this book the summer before I started high school at Stuyvesant in Manhattan, which happens to be the school that Ned went to (go Stuy!). His book was very accurate and insightful about the school, and I was able to relate to some things he felt. Even though he graduated when I was still in elementary school, things have stayed the same. Things like the Magic Card gang on the 6th floor are still real for my grade. It was a funny read and I literally couldn't put it down until I finished.

Inside the hideous yellow cover you will find a treasure trove of insightful wit on painful reality. Best of all, there's no poetic garbage about protagonist Ned "becoming a man" as there is in every other movie, tele-movie, and Wonder Years episode about High School. Instead Ned Vizzini chooses to focus on real life as a New York Teen, and all the comedy, stress, and, yes, maturation (no matter how slight)that comes with it. With the yellow cover, you won't exactly achieve the brooding intellectual look in the halls, but you could always gift-wrap it with dark wrapping paper, or better yet, wrap it in a Subway map to show the book's true NYC colors.

The author reflects on his youth in this collection of short stories. Teenage memories written with style and humor kept me from putting this book down.

To tell you the truth, the only reason I picked up Ned Vizzini's book, "Teen Angst? Naah" was because it was free and I didn't have anything else to do at the Book Expo. However, as soon as I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Being a teenager myself, I could relate to Ned's problems with members of the opposite sex, parents, and school. I mean, we've all had embarrassing moments -- but I don't think any of us could put them into words as well as Ned Vizzini does in this book.

This memoir was very interesting. I chose this particular memoir because it was a story of Ned Vizzini's high school life, something I can kind of relate to. It didn't seem like a memoir, it seemed like a realistic fiction novel. Ned Vizzini goes through big tests, trying to be cool, his first job, a school trip to Cancun, his first girlfriend, and more high school dramas.
There are three high schools in his area, Brooklyn Tech , Bronx Science, and Stuyvestant. All these schools are good, but Ned wants to get into the best school possible, Stuyvestant. The problem is, you have to take a test, the Specialized Science High School Admissions Test, SSHSAT for short. Stuyvestant requires a higher grade on this mini SAT type test, so it's the most desirable school. Ned thinks that it'll be no sweat. His teacher even thinks so to, "Ned," Mary leaned in close. "You don't need a list. You'll do fine." (Page 16). But once he gets the study book, he starts to worry. He didn't even know how to do the first problem of the math section, "A circle with diameter 4 has area of ? Use pi = 3.14." Ned obsesses over studying and learning all that he can, offended that it had questions he couldn't answer, and intending to kill it. He was even resorting to sleeping with the book under his pillow, thinking that the knowledge will seep into his brain.
Eventually, all that worrying pays off and Ned gets accepted to Stuy. But the drama doesn't end there. He is bombarded with peer pressure to be cool, heavy homework, and the fact that he is alone with no friends. He finds some kids playing a card game called Magic. After watching them for many days, Ned joins them in their card playing. He attends all-night-and-day tournaments, stocks up on cards that consume a good amount of money, but still has no real friends. A while later, he meets Judith and finally gets the courage to ask her out. "She's everything I'd missed in high school - love, status, constant physical attention - wrapped up and delivered in a slick, beautiful package."(Page 189).
Ned's first job was house-painting with a guy name Carlo, his boss and a very annoying Italian man. His friend James had told him that he could make three-hundred dollars a week, Ned jumps to it. But when Ned was told to get there at eight o'clock a.m., he should have known better. Ned was always late. Of course, Carlo blows up at him, not such a good first impression on either of them. Carlo ends up having to teach Ned how to paint (much to Carlo's frustration) and only lets him have a half hour lunch break. Ned went home at six o'clock, a ten-hour day.
Every year at Stuyvestant, the Senior's take a trip to Cancun for a week of partying. "It was perfect. On April 4, 1999, I was going to turn eighteen. On that same date, I was scheduled to be in Cancun, Mexico." (Page 183). But his hopes were soon shattered, when he found that the ticket costs eight-hundred-and-fifty bucks. Way too much for his family. Ned's mom says "Absolutely not!" without any hesitation. "Vacation? Ha! It's an orgy of sex and drugs!" (Page 186). Ned and his mom have a huge argument, but his mom won. Right after the argument Ned starts brainstorming ideas to go to Cancun without his parents finding out. But something else comes up. His mom signed Ned up to play Jesus in a church play that was on the same day as when the plane was leaving for Cancun, the same time. There was no getting out of that. Ned eventually had to put up signs around the school saying that he had a ticket to Cancun and he'd sell it to anyone who'd buy it. He sold it for the same price he'd bought it at. He spent his birthday with Judith, just not on the beach.
Ned Vizzini learned a lot about himself and his mom. He learned that his mom was not the lenient mom that most cool kids had. She was strict, and signed him up for things he didn't want to do. Ned learned that he needs to be more aggressive, to stand up for his rights more often. He learned that he needs to suck it up sometimes. A little elbow grease goes a long way.

After reading this memoir of Ned's teenage years, Ned Vizzini has quickly become my favorite author. The writing is professional yet has a hint of personality and youth in it that adds to the personal events and stories.

My mom had bought me this as a gift and when I looked at the title I thought "oh no, it's just another cheesy teenager advice book about how to stay healthy and not to do this and that".......but IT iSN'T! I stand corrected. When I read it, I zipped throught the chapters laughing out lound and was finished the same day. Ned Vizzini, the author, writes in a genuine and humorous fashion that leaves you laughing and eager to write your own auto-biography. Really YOU gotta at least try this book!!!!!

I loved this book. When I first saw it in the library, I thought it was some sort of self-help book for teens written by some middle aged woman. Boy, was I wrong. I grabed it because I needed to get a book for class. I thought I'd just pretend to read it, and continue to talk to my friend sitting next to me. However, once I read the first few lines, I was fully imersed in Vizzini's quant and zany style of writting. I am now reccomending the book to nearly all of my friends, because I think they will relate. And I know my friend Andrew will love the constant mentioning of his favorite band, Nirvana. You will not be dissapointed with this book!

Despite its lame bright yellow cover, Teen Angst is an honest and funny account of Ned Vizzini's experiences at Stuyvesant High School, one of the most academically challenging high schools in New York. "Behind the jocks, artists, nerds, preppies, chess nuts, heavy metal guys, folksy guitar players, scary kids with black trench coats, neo-Nazis, and what's-his-names was the general collection of bozos and rejects" that Ned hung around with.

This book will definitely not be made into some sappy movie starring Freddie Prinze jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Instead of writing about cheerleader and jocks, Vizzini focuses on those who are not typically portrayed in mainstream media -the ones who are obsessed with the card game Magic and Brooklyn Cable Access Television. This book is a refreshing look at the trials and tribulations of High School written by talented teen writer, whose conversational writing style will immediately grab your attention whether you are a high school student or high school graduate.

Ok, this is definitely a laugh-out-loud kind of book, and it's the first I have ever come across where I actually did so at least ten times. If you want a deep, thought-provoking story, go for something else. But if you want a book to read when your favorite TV show isn't on, this is the best fill-in. It's quick and hilarious.