A Is for Angst
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Canada
- Initial publish date
- Mar 2017
- Category
- General
- Recommended Age
- 9 to 12
- Recommended Grade
- 4 to 7
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780002008204
- Publish Date
- Aug 2007
- List Price
- $14.99
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781443452892
- Publish Date
- Mar 2017
- List Price
- $11.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
A is for Angst, B is for Boobs (either breasts or idiots) . . . This is the teen alphabet according to 14-year-old Theresa Tolliver. Growing up is complicated for a girl who can’t quite decide if Barbie dolls are age appropriate (and what’s with those perfect plastic Barbie boobs?) and who spends a great deal of time deconstructing the high school class system: Normals (Ns) like Theresa are careful to do nothing to stand out; Above-Normals (ANs) are the blessed ones who have perfect breasts (see Barbie above), boyfriends and the right clothes; Sub-Normals (SNs) are what every N fears becoming. Then there’s Achingly Adorable Adam (AA), Theresa’s almost boyfriend, though he doesn’t know it yet. A nd there’s Theresa’s family. What do you do with a pregnant mother, a socially phobic father, a domineering older sister, a jerk for a brother and eccentric grandparents on both sides? It’s a good thing Theresa can rely on her best friend, Biff—except now that the AN poster girl Ashleigh (it’s A shla-a-y, not Ashlee) has taken a sudden interest in Theresa, Biff is acting kind of strange. . . .
Barbara Haworth-Attard, Governor General’s Award finalist for her YA novel Theories of Relativity, has infiltrated the teen girl universe to create this funny, smart and honest look at the complicated lives of today’s adolescents.
About the author
Barbara Haworth-Attard is the acclaimed author of 13 children’s books, including Theories of Relativity, winner of two teen choice awards—the Snow Willow Award (Saskatchewan) and the Stellar Book Award (BC)—and finalist for the Governor General’s Award. Her other popular titles include A Is For Angst, Forget- Me-Not, Irish Chain and Flying Geese. Haworth-Attard lives with her family in London, Ontario. Visit her online at www.barbarahaworthattard.com.
Librarian Reviews
A is for Angst
Navigating through the complicated social structure of high school is never simple, and for 14-year-old Teresa Tolliver, retaining her normal average status in the teenage food chain is no easy task. From mortifying moments like popping her inflatable bra cup to finding ways to get Achingly Adorable Adam to notice her, readers will enjoy this angst-filled novel from the author of Theories of Relativity.Good writing can grab the reader as early as the first line, and this novel certainly does with Teresa’s statement: “The night before school began, Mom found me in bed with Ken”. Though “Ken”, turns out to be a doll with black marker genitalia, the bluntness and honesty of Teresa’s voice creates an immediate hook.
What makes this novel a particularly great read is that it never falls victim to the awkward teenager scenario that identify many books in this genre. Teresa doesn’t fit into the extreme social groups that she so smartly identifies. She knows where she fits, and she’s comfortable being a “Normal”, without being arrogant or annoying. While her problems often seem like the end of the world to her, she acknowledges each of these stumbles and bumbles with humour, if not completely with grace.
It is a refreshing change to read about a normal and likeable teen with normal and highly identifiable teenage problems, and teens will easily make the connection wherever their place in the high school social ladder.
Source: The Canadian Children's Bookcentre. Fall 2007. Vol.30 No.4.
A is for Angst
Teresa has worked hard to keep her ‘Normal’ status at school. But when the popular girls start noticing her, Teresa must juggle her ‘Normal’ friends with her new ‘Above-Normal’ status.Source: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Best Books for Kids & Teens. 2008.
Other titles by
Haunted
Forget-Me-Not
Flying Geese
Home Child
Love-Lies-Bleeding
Theories Of Relativity
Irish Chain
Dear Canada: To Stand on My Own
The Polio Epidemic Diary of Noreen Robertson, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 1937
Dear Canada: A Time for Giving: Ten Tales of Christmas
Dear Canada: A Trail of Broken Dreams
The Gold Rush Diary of Harriet Palmer, Overland to the Cariboo, 1862