ttyl (Talk to You Later-Internet Girls) (Paperback)

by Lauren Myracle (Author)

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 234 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810987880
• ISBN-13: 978-0810987883
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (135 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,731 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Erica (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ttyl (Talk to You Later) (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*

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ttyl by Lauren Myracle, January 11, 2007

A Kid's Review

ttyl by Lauren Myracle is a book that is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. The main characters are three friends who are trying to survive the horrors of 10th grade and not be split apart. They have to endure the Queen Bee encounters, boy trouble, and crushes on teachers.
They start the year with no problems, but 10th grade wasn't smooth sailing. Angela get cheated by the boy that she thought was the one and goes into a depressed state. Zoe falls in love with their teacher and goes with him on religious outings and finds out that her teacher is trying to hit on her. Maddie went to frat party and got so drunk she don't know what she was doing and end up as the rumor of the school. The once best friends start to split from each other because of their own problems. They soon find themselves helping each other the best they can to pull each other closer.
I really enjoyed this book because of the format of IM. I also enjoyed the humor of Maddie, Angela, and Zoe. Their friendship also reminded me of the friendship I have with my best friend. It reminded me of the problems we've had and the problems we have over come.

I recommend this book to teenage girls who love to IM.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful., July 18, 2008

By	Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Lauren Myracle, ttyl (Amulet, 2004)

When I first heard about this book, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The very idea of an entire book written in chatspeak offended me. So I had to take a look and see if it was really as awful as I feared.

"it gets worse. cuz then rob strolls up, and i was like, 'sounds like u had a good time saturday nite. u could have called me, u know.' and tonnie goes, 'he wanted to, but i told him not to.' i said, 'oh yeah, sure,' and rob said, 'really, angie, i was punching in your number and everything, and tonnie said to bag it. She said it would just bum u out to know that we were having such a blast without you.'"
(p. 45)

What really gets me is that in school libraries across the nation, people are challenging excellent books like And Tango Makes Three for "promoting" homosexuality or Whale Talk from "promoting" bad language. No one's going after ttyl for promoting chatspeak. We have some really messed-up priorities in this country when people are completely comfortable with horning in on someone else's philosophy, but couldn't care less about their literacy. (zero)