Buying books (or anything else for that matter) for the early teenage group can be a bit of a challenge. However, there are a lot of fantastic books in young-adult sections of bookshops now, and with a bit of thought you might even get it right this year.
One of the best books for girls aged 11 and up is Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison (Piccadilly, £7.20). It's also a great one for boys of the same age group, though they might feel more comfortable sneaking a peak at their younger/older sister's copy than suffering the embarrassment of opening it in front of everyone on Christmas day.
This is the Bridget Jones diary for young teenagers and it really is hilarious. It's also all very innocent. Far from being an erotic high point, women's underwear features as bras which ride up around the neck of the wearer as she runs for the bus (her breasts being such an undeveloped affair) - and thongs are knickers which plant themselves naggingly up bums. Angus is the mad cat. And as for sex: "I think it was lip to corner of mouth, but maybe it was lip to cheek?"
"It wasn't full-frontal snogging though, was it?"
"No." "I think she went for full-frontal and he converted it into lip to corner of mouth . . . ."
Anyone who has a teenager, or was once a teenager, will identify with the mood swings, the perpetual state of embarrassment and general horror of parents which bounces off every page of this book. If it isn't accidental eyebrow shaving, Georgia is coping with the unbearable humiliation of her parent's existence: "11.30 p.m. Mum and Dad came crashing in, giggling. They were drunk, I could hear them dancing around to The Birdy Song. They are sad."
Phillip Pullman's Northern Lights and Subtle Knife are very popular with young teenagers, as is Robert Swindell's Abomination (Corgi Yearling, £4.80). The poet Benjamin Zephaniah's first novel Face (Bloomsbury, £6) is a lively and positive account of a boy who is badly scarred in a joyriding crash, and how he comes to terms with it. It's a difficult subject, but the story is incredibly well told.
David Almond's Skellig (Signature, £6) comes highly recommended again this year. He also has a new one out, Kit's Wilderness (Signature, £6), which should do well.
Waterstone's conducted a survey among young teenagers to get some idea of what they were reading and found they tend to read quite a lot of books aimed primarily at adults. So, its shops have books like Wild Swans by Jung Chan (Harper Collins, £9.99 in UK) and An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan (Vintage, £7.99 in UK) in their young-adult sections now.
Prices for British-published books may vary in Irish shops.
