ttyl (Talk to You Later-Internet Girls) [Hardcover]

Lauren Myracle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

Told in instant message format, this young adult novel follows the friendship of three tenth-grade girls as they experience some of the typical pitfalls of adolescence - boys, queen-bee types, a flirty teacher, beer, crazy parents, and more.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Audacious author Lauren Myracle accomplishes something of a literary miracle in her second young-adult novel, ttyl (Internet instant messaging shorthand for "talk to you later"), as she crafts an epistolary novel entirely out of IM transcripts between three high-school girls.

Far from being precious, the format proves perfect for accurately capturing the sweet histrionics and intimate intricacies of teenage girls. Grownups (and even teenage boys) might feel as if they've intercepted a raw feed from Girl Secret Headquarters, as the book's three protagonists--identified by their screen names "SnowAngel," "zoegirl," and "mad maddie"--tough their way through a rough-and-tumble time in high school. Conversations range from the predictable (clothes, the delicate high-school popularity ecosystem, boys, boys in French class, boys in Old Navy commercials, etc.) to the the jarringly explicit (the girls discuss female ejaculation: "some girls really do, tho. i read it in our bodies, ourselves") and the unintentionally hilarious (Maddie's IM reduction of the Christian poem "Footprints"--"oh, no, my son. no, no, no. i was carrying u, don't u c?").

But Myracle's triumph in ttyl comes in leveraging the language-stretching idiom of e-mail, text messaging, and IM. Reaching to express themselves, the girls communicate almost as much through punctuation and syntactical quirks as with words: "SnowAngel: 'cuz--drumroll, please--ROB TYLER is in my french class!!! *breathes deeply, with hand to throbbing bosom* on friday we have to do "une dialogue" together. i get to ask for a bite of his hot dog.'"

Myracle already proved her command of teenage girl-ness with Kissing Kate, but the self-imposed convention of ttyl allows a subtlety that is even more brilliant. Parents might like reading the book just to quantify how out of touch they are, but teens will love the winning, satisfyingly dramatic tale of this tumultuous trio. (Ages 13 to 17) --Paul Hughes

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-10-Three high school sophomores, lifelong best friends, are now facing a variety of emotional upsets in their personal and social lives. Angela is boy crazy and emotive, but able to lend support to her friends when they need it. Zoe is the quietest and most self-effacing, considered by some to be a goody two-shoes but in fact headed full speed into a very dangerous relationship. Madigan is the hothead, less certain of how to grow up than she allows anyone, including herself, to see. The entire narrative is composed of the instant messages sent among these three, from September into November, as they each get involved with dating, sort out how to have friendships with others, cope with disasters that range from wardrobe issues to getting drunk, and offer one another advice and defiance. Each character's voice is fully realized and wonderfully realistic in spite of the very limiting scope of the IM device. Page layout mimics a computer screen and each girl IMs in a different font and in her own unique verbal style. (The title is IM jargon for "talk to you later"). Myracle not only sustains all this but also offers readers some meaty-and genuine-issues. Both revealing and innovative, this novel will inspire teens to pass it to their friends and will suggest to nascent writers that experimenting with nonnarrative communication can be a great way to tell a story.-Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810948214
• ISBN-13: 978-0810948211
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.8 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #945,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lauren Myracle is the author of many popular books for teens and tweens, including New York Times bestsellers ttyl and ttfn (Abrams). She lives with her family in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 142 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Realistic?! January 26, 2008

By Erica

Format:Hardcover

I'm a senior in high school who sometimes gets bored in the library during study hall. As a result of said boredom, my friend and I decided to select a book from the display our librarian had decided to put up full of iffy-looking young adult books and read it to see if it was as dumb as it looked.

That book was Lauren Myracle's "ttyl".

Has Ms Myracle ever HAD an IM conversation? I cannot believe that people are using the word "realistic" to describe the complete mess that is this book; they must be adult readers because NO ONE TALKS LIKE THAT, not even on IM. Trust me. I'm practically sobbing as I write this because I want you to understand...TEENAGERS ARE NOT THIS STUPID IN REAL LIFE. Good god. This book offends me and makes me ashamed to be a teenage girl...is this what people think we're like? AHHH. No. No. Nonononono. Just...No.

Please please please do not buy this book. It might encourage the author to type out more stupid things and sell them to unwitting publishers who don't know what they're unleashing on the world. *shudder*

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars There's nothing to LOL about here. February 18, 2011

A Kid's Review

Format:Paperback

I picked up this book at my library thinking it might be a fun read. The cover was cute and the back sounded interesting, and I had read the first page, and there was nothing wrong or anything, so it seemed reasonable. I should've dug quite deeper to realize the truth.

Crammed, spaced, and shorted to IM form, TTYL is a story about three teenagers going through the same things all the other teenagers are going through, boy drama, mean girls, odd teachers, while trying to keep up their friendship. The first few pages were ok, but then, the book got...a bit overboard. I mean, I know teenagers swear, but this was going a little too far, shoving in all the bad words where, it's not needed. There are a thousand other words in the english language but Myracle has to go ahead and use the f word a bunch of times, which leaves some parents not happy with their child's read.

But really, this book is totally gross, and I didn't find it funny. It talks about sex and boys as if they are the last things on this Earth. Shouldn't the girls in the books be using their high school time wisely? Well, they don't, and I'm annoyed.

Another reason i'm mad is because of the cover: Cute, funny, overpowering to young girls; hint, hint, young girls, reading these books, getting into this stuff at an early age. Now, I admit i'm young too, but I don't read books that swear off every page just because the author believes everyone is doing it, and it's perfectly ok. Well, teens do tend to swear, but some try not to go too far. Myracle, you went off a cliff this time.

53 of 67 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Sex and The City For Kids (without good writing) April 10, 2004

By Ted J. Tipton

Format:Hardcover

Just picked up this winner in the Young Adults section of Border's for my about to turn thirteen year old daughter. As defined in the book description the target audience is 13-17. At least the creators of Sex and The City target their show to adults and don't enter it in this category. However the subject matter and crude descriptiveness in this book could have found it's way onto that show. If you don't believe me, pick it up at the store and see if you would be willing to read pages 10-11 aloud to a group of junior high girls'.(although doing so would probably subject you to arrest) It's bad enough the pressures on young girls' to be sexualized everywhere they look, but it would be nice if we could turn them loose in the literature for kid's; especially when the book jacket tells us of the author's credentials in writing for young people. Perhaps Larry Flynt might have a place for Ms. Myracle in his Letter's to the editor section.

39 of 49 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars What is our world coming to? February 29, 2008

By C. George

Format:Hardcover

I want to know if I read the same book as the people who gave this thing 5 stars. Reading TTYL made me want to break down in tears. Is that how society truly views teenage girls? As a sophomore in high school, trust me on this, no middle/jr/high school female acts like that. The whole book basically made it seem as if all we're interested in is boys, sex, and boys. I was deeply disappointed in the fact that the author was promoting this. Although, I have more issues with the publisher who thought this one was a winner. And I don't believe anyone on this planet, or the next, types like that.

Do yourself a favor, and don't even bother reading TTYL. You've much better things to do with your time, like watching the grass grow.

200 of 271 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars The Downfall of Society July 7, 2004

By Brian Bannon

Format:Hardcover

In the future, robot archaeologists will be sifting through the rubble of a long dead human civilization, patiently searching for the ultimate cause of mankind's extinction. After sifting through the remains of our fallen society, searching through libraries and the streets of ghost towns and the insides of long-dead computers, they will eventually find the horrific shout that set off the avalanche that would destroy us.

They will find TTYL.

It will be the first time a robot weeps.

21 of 27 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars The literary equivalent of the all-twinkie diet August 17, 2008

By Kevin W. Plaxco

Format:Hardcover

A perfect book for morons destined to drop out of school at 15 stoned and pregnant. If that's your aspiration for your kids, by all means buy this book for them. This book has no redeeming value what-so-ever; I tossed our copy (I'm ashamed that I didn't look more closely when my daughter bought it) in the recycling bin after my daughter came to me suggesting that, perhaps, it wasn't appropriate for her. She was right. It's not appropriate for anyone. It is trash.