''Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging'' is a 1999

young adult novel Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

by English author

Louise Rennison Louise Rennison (11 October 1951 – 29 February 2016) was an English author and comedian who wrote the '' Confessions of Georgia Nicolson'' series for teenage girls. The series records the exploits of a teenage girl, Georgia Nicolson, and her be ...

. The book is the first of ten books in the ''

Confessions of Georgia Nicolson Louise Rennison (11 October 1951 – 29 February 2016) was an English author and comedian who wrote the ''Confessions of Georgia Nicolson'' series for teenage girls. The series records the exploits of a teenage girl, Georgia Nicolson, and her bes ...

'' series. The book was adapted into a film, ''

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging ''Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging'' (also known as ''Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging'') is a 2008 teen romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Gurinder Chadha, based on the young adult novels '' Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal ...

'', released in the United Kingdom and the United States in July 2008.

Plot summary

Georgia, a teenager, lives with her mother, father, three-year-old sister Libby, and her wild cat, Angus, whom the family found on a holiday to Scotland. Georgia bumps into the popular and attractive Robbie (the "Sex-God"), while helping her best friend, Jas, subtly stalk his brother at the grocery store where he works. The problem is that he is older and has a girlfriend, Lindsay, an older girl who wears a

thong The thong is a Clothing, garment generally used as either underwear or in some countries, as a swimsuit. It may also be worn for traditional Ceremony, ceremonies or Sport, competitions. Viewed from the front, the thong typically resembles a b ...

and bra padding and secretly claims to be engaged to him. Robbie eventually dumps Lindsay, but tells Georgia that he should not date her because she is too young. In an effort to appear more mature, Georgia tries to bleach a strip of her hair blonde, but it comes off in her hand. Fortunately for her, Robbie is attracted to her and finds her eccentricity amusing and endearing and suggests taking it slow. However, Georgia's mum comes in at the very end and announces that they have tickets to go to New Zealand for the summer to visit her father, who has gone there searching for work, putting a damper on Georgia's new summer romance.

Censorship

The book is number 35 on the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

's list of frequently challenged or banned books from 2000-2009. Georgia's frequently disrespectful attitude towards her parents and other authority figures have contributed to the challenges, as well as sexual content, profanity, age inappropriateness and the references to homosexuality. In 2009, the book was challenged at the Maplewood Middle School Library in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, leading the school to require parental consent before allowing students to have access to it. In 2022, ''Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging'' was listed among 52 books banned by the

Alpine School District Alpine School District. The district was founded in 1915, and includes all grades from kindergarten through high school (K-12). As of 2018, there were 58 elementary schools, 14 junior high schools, 11 high schools, and 9 special purpose sch ...

following the implementation of Utah law H.B. 374, “Sensitive Materials In Schools." Forty-two percent of removed books “feature LBGTQ+ characters and or themes.” Many of the books were removed because they were considered to contain pornographic material according to the new law, which defines porn using the following criteria: * "The average person" would find that the material, on the whole, "appeals to prurient interest in sex" * The material "is patently offensive in the description or depiction of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, sadomasochistic abuse, or excretion" * The material, on the whole, "does not have serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value."

Awards

It won the

Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and r ...

Bronze Award, was shortlisted for the

Branford Boase Award The Branford Boase Award is a British literary award presented annually to an outstanding children's or young-adult novel by a first-time writer; "the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist." The award is s ...

, and was voted number 127 in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Big Read The Big Read was a survey on books that was carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, when over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel. The year-long survey was th ...

poll to find the UK's favourite book. It was also named a Printz Honor book in 2001.

References

{{Louise Rennison 1999 British novels 1990s in comedy British comedy novels British young adult novels Epistolary novels Fictional diaries British novels adapted into films Comedy novels adapted into films Censored books Confessions of Georgia Nicolson