CITATION: Myracle, L. (2004). ttyl. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.IDENTIFYING #: ISBN 10: 0810987880
CLASSIFICATION: FICTION
GENRE: REALISTIC FICTION
CALL #: FIC MYRACLE
RECOMMENDED AGE/READING LEVEL: YOUNG ADULT
RATING: 3
Annotation: 3 high school sophomores talk about boys, parents, and social drama in through a series of instant messages.
Summary: Best friends Zoe, Maddie, and Angela discuss daily events in school and in their homelives and make plans via instant messaging. When they're not together physically, they are online, IMing about what happened, and counseling each other in chat rooms. Angela is a serial dater, constantly falling in and out of love, Maddie hates the most popular girl in school, but desperately wants to be friends with her, and Zoe's young English teacher, Mr. H, takes perhaps too much of an interest in her. As the girls attempt to work through their personal issues, the help and advice they give each other isn't always welcome, and at one point, it seems their friendship might not survive the 10th grade.
Notes: Teens will be interested in the problems these 3 friends experience, however they may find the novel somewhat out of touch. Written only 4 years ago, technology outside of instant messaging is treated as non-existent--only one of the girls has a cell phone (yeah, right!), no one has a MySpace, and their style of dress (described in detail) brings to mind the early '90s rather than the new millenium. The dated technology was problematic for me, because this is a novel using technology as its main vehicle. However, the issues the girls grappled with were mostly relatable, so it's still a worthwhile read.
