The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained - Gawker Comments

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

bamberish — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:47:55 EDT

and the back-cover description used to say something like, "the joy of the first time." newer copies say, "the joy of first love."

oh the 70s, how we sometimes miss thee.

bamberish

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

ithawtitoldya — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:50:31 EDT

Lest we not forget Blubber, Iggie's House and Deenie - a girl dealing with Scoliosis!

ithawtitoldya

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

mistersathingtonfroggleby — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:34:00 EDT

@mrs. rogers: George was athletic. It was the other friend who was "pleasantly plump" also, I believe, "pudgy". Good ol' pudgy Bess.

mistersathingtonfroggleby

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

sophiapehawkins — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:03:14 EDT

@Ed: Loved, loved Norma Klein! I found "It's Ok if You Don't Love Me" in my childhood bedroom recently, with the hot pages still dog-eared...that Lyle was a real fox.

As a sidenote, why did every heroine in those novels go to Radcliffe (yes, I loved Erich Segal too)? When I was a kid, I thought Radcliffe was some kind of perfect place, where all girls did was smoke pot and practice "free love." What a crock of shit.

sophiapehawkins

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

uwishunu — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:12:39 EDT

as my best friend just reminded me: "That's fine and all, but the truth of the matter is....the content is still dated. Remember that the girl in Forever sits on the floor with her bf and macramed cushions? And I think she puts Aqua Velva on his boys - that isn't even made anymore." Truer words were never spoken.

uwishunu

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

Itsjustcatnip — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:08:29 EDT

What, there's no new author writing squeamtastic books for the kids? Is it really cool to just give the books a tit lift here and a little bulemia there?

Itsjustcatnip

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

Jenelle — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:25:32 EDT

All my faves... but what about Go Ask Alice?

Jenelle

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

SisterHavana — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:24:37 EDT

@Ed: Seriously. Same with "Give and Take," "Love Is One Of The Choices," and especially "Domestic Arrangements." That one got passed around my eighth grade class several times!

SisterHavana

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

cassandra — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:56:23 EDT

@oneninesevenfour: What I would like is books that teach me how to be an adult.

cassandra

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

Ed — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:34:03 EDT

Judy Blume was one thing, but for the real goods kids would read Norma Klein. I remember the book entitled "It's Okay If You Don't Love Me" that made "Forever" look like "Enchanted."

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

oneninesevenfour — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:11:08 EDT

So wait, people read books about other youth when they were themselves young? You weren't all reading Miss Marple mysteries? Or the collected writings of Frank Lloyd Wright or Corbusier's Toward a New Architecture? I thought those YA books were for kids that didn't like to read. No wonder I've grown up to be such a fucked up adult. I had didn't realize that these books were there to help me be a teenager.

oneninesevenfour

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

gladys_kravitz — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:10:30 EDT

@Tits McGee: Me too. Seeing it makes me feel old. I was reading it inside my history book in 1976. Ouch. It's where I learned about hand jobs which, interestingly, seem to be making a comeback. (or should I say cumback?)

gladys_kravitz

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

Ed — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:34:36 EDT

In Library School, I took a "Materials for Young Adults" class and finally read all of "Forever" and not just the dirty parts at the public library like I used to. I loved the unsentimentality of it all. If they ever alter the content, I'd nominate eliminating the gay guy who tries to hang himself. That part - IMHO- keeps the story stuck in the 70s.

By the way, does anybody read the Beverly Cleary Young Adult books anymore? Sister of the Bride, etc?

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

audreyhorne — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:28:06 EDT

Did you ever pick up on that in seriously every Nancy Drew book they refer to George as being "pleasantly plump"? why couldn't Nancy have the big ass?

audreyhorne

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

mockingbird — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:24:09 EDT

@BrianVan: can we make the squeamish ones read the old-school version, with the pads that need belts and really freak them out?

Aaah, Superfudge. Good times.

mockingbird

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

missmarley — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:23:56 EDT

Because nothing says "sleek, cool, and with-it" like not wearing pants.

missmarley

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

PandoraSpocks — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:20:43 EDT

I'm okay with all of this except messing with Nancy Drew. The girl needs the be driving that "blue roadster" and nobody wants her friend George to finally admit shes a Les.

PandoraSpocks

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

BrianVan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:59:28 EDT

I think every man should be forced to read "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret" when they're about 11-13 years old...

WAIT!

...provided that they're not squeamish, and that there's an adult around to smack them across the face if they make any jokes about it.

Aside from the usual coming of age stuff (no one should get their behavior lessons entirely from "Superfudge", anyway), you will have the benefit of having some exposure to the concept of menstruation before something unfortunate occurs.

And in general, reading Judy Blume books can be a good way to figure out what people are thinking at that age, much better than asking anyone around.

BrianVan

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

kingsquiddish — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:44:27 EDT

but the old version is way cooler looking. Young readers just have no sense of design!

kingsquiddish

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

Tits McGee — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:57:21 EDT

I had the version on the far left, with the pensive blonde in the locket.

I wore. That. Book. Out.

My hand, too, I imagine.

Tits McGee

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

Spirit Fingers — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:33:04 EDT

Yes, Yes! See, this is what I was talking about on that other post about those weak SVH books. Now this was a book that launched protests in my little southern hometown.

(Sheila, stay out of my head, it's no place for an innocent)

Spirit Fingers

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

ADismalScience — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:23:28 EDT

Can somebody please modernize the cover of "The Wealth of Nations" so it integrates more readily with my hip, youthful style? Maybe a picture of the invisible hand doing the shocker or something?

Two in the supply curve, one in the proletariat.

ADismalScience

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

Jessica Hussein Lovejoy: BRB, getting Rahm'ed — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:23:06 EDT

I'm still curious if the new SVH books have changed the mandatory mention of their "perfect size six" figures to "perfect size double zero."

Jessica Hussein Lovejoy: BRB, getting Rahm'ed

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

SpoiledGirlieGirl — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:19:56 EDT

ahhhh, Judy Blume. She's the one who let me know all those dreams I was having were OK.

SpoiledGirlieGirl

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

Theda_Bara — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:19:43 EDT

I'm "with-it"....?

Theda_Bara

The New Liz and Jess Wakefield, Explained

SpeakerphoneON — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:19:43 EDT

Forget Forever, bring on the girls who read Wifey.

SpeakerphoneON