BOOKS FOR TEENAGE GIRLS

Anything by author Louise Rennison would be a good addition to your birthday present drawer/Christmas present list (if it's not too early for that) if you have daughters.

She came in to Television Centre in July to talk about the end of the series of 10 diary-style confession books that had made her name.  They featured 14-year-old Georgia Nicholson - most notably in "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" which was made into the film titled "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging".

But her latest book is a departure. "Withering Tights" features new character Tallulah Casey. Tallulah is at a Performing Arts College in Yorkshire for the summer - something Louise has experienced, having been slated for her depiction of an embryo by her own tutor!  And the book explores Tallulah's antics.

Louise lives in Brighton but was brought up in a council house in Leeds and her family emigrated to New Zealand when she was 15.  She then moved to London and worked as a play leader, dental nurse, did some travelling and then went to a performing arts course in Brighton.

She toured with her autobiographical show "Stevie Wonder Felt My Face" at Edinburgh Festival and it was made into a BBC2 special.

She has worked for Radio 4, Woman's Hour & the John Peel Show & has written for well-known comedians.  And it's her style of writing that's made her a bestseller among the sort of teenage girls who are just starting to get obsessed with boys.

I love this description for instance: "Alex had everything a dream boy should have. Back, front, side. A head."

* The Georgia series has sold 1.7 million copies in the UK alone
* She was shortlisted for this year's Queen of Teen authors' prize alongside 9 others including Jacqueline Wilson and Cathy Cassidy.
* She previously won this (it's been going since 2008) & as it's decided upon by teenagers' nominations and an online vote, there's some kudos here.
* She says she loves hanging out with teenagers for her research - "the best fun known to humanity".
* Has great anecdote about living in NZ above the geothermal geezers that used to make their al fresco dining a table-lurching experience.
* On the website http://www.georgia-nicolson.co.uk/media/ she interacts with readers and there are several video clips of her chatting
* British comedian/actor Alan Davies plays Georgia's father in the film "Angus"
* There must have been issues around the title as the film was called "On the Bright Side, I'm now the Girlfriend of a Sex God" in the US.
* She talks about her own first boyfriend and the time she bleached her hair and some of it fell out (a scene repeated in "Angus").
* Publishers: HarperCollins

REVIEWS
On Angus: "Bridget Jones for teenagers - but funnier. Expect Potter-esque queues for the sequel."
On the Georgia Nicholson series: "Either these books make you chortle like a loon in loon pants or you live on another planet."

So, inspiration for writers and food for thought for readers.

SUGAR GLIDERS

One of the strangest interviews I have ever set up, on September 14th 2009, involved arranging for a woman to come into the studio for a live interview with two of her sugar glider pets. 
It was my first introduction to the joys of the notorious Risk Assessment form at my new employer.  Oh boy, I thought filling in my tax return as a self-employed freelance was tricky. Here, you have to think of everything.  Imagine the horror of a presenter being bitten by an unusual creature live on breakfast telly while viewers were munching their muesli?

I'd never heard of these creatures before but was soon to become semi-expert in their needs because the purpose of the item was to warn people against having them as pets - despite their cuteness.
For instance:
* They're liable to show their affection by jumping on your head (or down your top!)
* They are mostly awake at night
* They need a large cage to run around in.

Our interviewee, Marie Bannister, brought in Dinks whom she had looked after for six years. 

She said: "They can live to around 15 so a lot of thought needs to go into a decision to have one as a pet. They need an indoor aviary-type structure really, as they can't cope with the British climate, with some logs in to make them feel like they're in their natural environment and the space to run around or to be able to glide. 

"But they're nocturnal and make a lot of barking noise at night so they are not for sleep-lovers. Looking after them is much harder than say a hamster or anything like that. It's not easy to buy food for them from just any pet store. You have to give them live insects, locusts or mealworms, and I give them fresh fruit and vegetables, boiled eggs, bee pollen and nectar drinks." 

It's thought the little creatures got into the pet trade after they were smuggled here and ended up in London Zoo in the 1800s.  And they certainly are cute.  But I’ll stick to my dogs for now….

Read more about them here

FREE HOLIDAY ANYONE?

I wrote something for the website HaveaLovelyTime.com

Please feel free to leave your comments after you've clicked on the link above and cast a glance.

Thanks!

22) Is state schooling best?

A good friend of mine has just installed her seven-year-old daughter in private school.  Each to his or her own, of course.  But.... we could have shared both the school run and several more coffees/glasses of wine if she'd stayed put and hadn't been too busy sewing name tapes on to expensive blazers and skirts to come out and play.  Aside from the fact that I'd rather spend our hard-earned cash on family holidays, nice shoes and handbags, I also believe that we should keep our children in state schools so that we can keep the pressure on local authorities to keep these schools good. However, I understand her reasons for doing what she's done - small class sizes, continuity of education as they're a military family who move a lot etc. I just worry about the pressure she's putting on her daughter as well as the social and financial burden it's putting on her family.

We're lucky. Where we live, the primary schools are mostly good. It gets trickier at secondary school because many of them are in a no-man's-land and are not a natural feeder to any of the 'big' schools. Many of those comprehensives are MASSIVE: 1200 pupils in each. One of the secondary schools in the nearest town has no sixth form, which is sometimes a clincher for people who want the continuity of their child studying for A'Levels there too. Another is a sports' specialist school. As such, school hours are a bit different, and if your child isn't into sport, that's a no-go. The other secondary school has a large percentage of pupils for whom English isn't their first language - another feature that makes some parents pause for thought, no matter how cosmopolitan they claim to be. Then there's the school that is on special measures, so a neighbouring head teacher has just been asking to take it on, as well as his own, in order to improve its performance. Does that mean that the new school he's working at is the place to opt for because it will have just pulled up its socks? We're in the catchment for his old school, but will he still have his eye on the ball there?

Fortunately, I don't have to think about this for my elder son, until next October. But it's such an important decision - something that people move house for - that we're thinking about it early. Fortunately too, we simply can't afford the private school option, otherwise we'd be even more confused. But even if we could afford it, reasonable schools are available locally and if we can get it for free I think we should. Not just because we're tight-fisted either. Having been to a small, minor private school myself (and maybe this is the real reason....) I found the big leap to university unnerving. I'd rather my children were used to being small fish in a big pond so that they are more confident and able to cope in what is a big and competitive world.

My main worry is bullying. You'll get bullies anywhere - but I've yet to come across anywhere that deals with it effectively. For a start, if someone's bullying you, the advice is to tell someone. Inevitably, the bully finds out that you've dobbed them in. So how are they going to react? They're going to pick on you even more for getting them into trouble. And I guess sheer numbers and sheer space suggest that there will be more bullies if your children are at a bigger school.  So the importance of your child getting in with a good crowd of friends that can protect and absorb any threats from undesirables is a huge one.  But how to foster that when parents have so little involvement in secondary schooling?  Gone are the PTA meetings, social events and coffee mornings at many places.  From what mothers of older children have told me, your son or daughter tells you they're going home with a friend after school and often you've never heard of them, have no idea where they live or what they're like.  Your "I'm not a snob but I am really" hackles start to rise!

That's why my friend - in fact, three of my friends - have opted for private school. More attention, less chance of getting beaten up. But is it worth it for the lack of competition from 'normal' people that you'll face every day in adulthood and working life? Is facing up to bullies a rite of passage that nearly every child has to go through?  There seem to be so many websites out there for new mums but none for new mums of tweenagers! Any tips?

CHURCHILL

For my own part, looking out upon the future, I do not view the process with any misgivings. I could not stop it if I wished; no one can stop it. Like the Mississippi, it just keeps rolling along. Let it roll. Let it roll on full flood, inexorable, irresistible, benignant, to broader lands and better days.

A lesser known part of his speech from 70 years ago today.

Here's mine, derived from my blog words

21) NO SUCH THING AS A FREE HOLIDAY?

What’s a holiday for? A chance to prop open a novel while soaking up the sun? To go hill-walking, rock climbing, sight-seeing or meandering down country lanes, snail-like, in an overstuffed car?

Well, every other parent I spoke to in July had plumped for some form of camping this summer. Whether in a trailer tent, camper van or fully-fledged austerity in a farmer’s field, we each swapped notes on the most effective insect repellent to pack; the best tinned substances to stash away and the worst scare stories on communal shower blocks, then set off in our different directions.

Comparing notes again after the event, we've all enjoyed the great outdoors and the children have roamed free range while picking up a few life skills along the way. The main difference between our holiday and others' was that our accommodation was free. We hadn’t won a competition or borrowed a friend’s place. This was a “barter stay” where my husband and I each worked for 20 hours over four days in exchange for a fully kitted-out bell tent for a week. (I say 'worked' but that's a bit of an exaggeration.... ) In addition, the owners cooked us a delicious barbecued smorgasbord beside the communal camp fire on our last night.

Instead of forking out £635 for that week or £875 for a seriously luxurious lodge at the site, we stripped beds, collected barbecue and wood-burning stove ash, wheelbarrowed new stocks of logs, crockery, topped-up paraffin lamps and tea lights to the tents and beat back a bit of bracken. Normally quite happy to pay our way, we opted for this because it sounded a bit different and we wanted to get a bit of an insight into the running of the place while still having time to explore Yorkshire – somewhere, woefully, I’d never been before.

A quick phone call to the owners reassured me that we could do this while our two sons, nine and seven, played safely nearby and they had a week available that suited us for the one weekly volunteer couple or foursome that they accept.

Jolly Days Luxury Camping is at Buttercrambe Wood, near the Viking battleground of Stamford Bridge, half an hour’s drive from York. It’s been open for two years and is run by architect and designer Christian and Carolyn Von Outersterp. They’d lost a few million running a business in London so their new venture had to work. And it seems to be on the right track.

“We got the idea from staying at a bush camp in Kenya. It had mosquito nets and comfortable beds. We didn’t see why we couldn’t replicate the idea here – all the wonders of the outdoors but with added extras to make our guests’ stay more like a hotel experience,” says Carolyn.

“It’s wonderful to see the city types gradually unwind as they start to soak up the tranquility of a place like this.”

It’s the couple’s relaxed attitude and the little retro chic touches they’ve added that catch the eye. “Welly Boot Way” is a path beside which spare boots are upended on a rack, like flowers, for visitors to borrow. Wheelbarrows for transporting suitcases, logs of wood and tins of beans to your tent double up as a makeshift child’s joyride. There are two white, wooden shower blocks, each with large sinks for washing up; three decent-sized hot shower cubicles; separate sinks with mirrors; a power point for hairdryers; electric lighting and, joy of joys, soft loo roll! The reception tent has a wicker hamper crammed with maps and books you can borrow and an honesty box/IOU book for the posh lollies, lemonade, snacks, hot drinks and charcoal on sale, alongside a mobile phone charging point for online addicts.

The site runs on only five kilowatts of electricity so candles and torches are a must, but that adds to the eco-credentials Christian is so keen to preserve.

“It involves a lot of maintenance. There’s always something to paint, make or mend. We have to replace the bell tents every October because mildew takes hold once the rain sets in, but we source them locally. We also use reclaimed furniture wherever possible, which we simply paint white.”

For lodge-tent dwellers, that furniture includes a four-poster bed with muslin drapes, separate bedroom complete with twin beds, wardrobes, a Victorian slipper bath, a couple of sofas and candelabras, creating a wonderfully romantic setting.

Even the bell-tents, have coir matting on top of wooden decking, cushions, soft blankets, paraffin lamps and pretty bunting slung inside the tent. It feels a bit like cheating - this isn't real camping! So it's a good job there are wasps, woodlice and cooing wood pigeons at dawn to give that authentic sleeping-under-the-stars feel, but that sleep is on back-friendly futons with duvets and pillows.

With a Duke of Edinburgh Award and 17-year military career between us, my husband and I know a thing or two about rucksacks, route maps and rainy route marches. But it was heartening to gradually confine those experiences to memory. We washed the children’s socks, blackened by endless earthy football matches under the trees, and munched barely palatable soya mince bolognaise for just one meal, purely as catharsis. A few hours of restoring eco-order in the undergrowth may have entailed gaining a few blisters but an inner glow from burning calories, rather than a hole in our pockets, was the order of the day.

A canopy, covering both the tent opening and a wooden hut, containing a two-ring gas stove and all our cooking utensils, meant we could barbecue or eat al fresco in all weathers. Frozen rather than hot water bottles chilled our cool box and a wood-burning stove kept us warm.
Meanwhile, many of the younger campers took a break from zooming off on their bikes for a short course in bushcraft and archery under the expert instruction of former headteacher Andrew Middleton who holds regular sessions at the site.

There was also time to wander down The Shambles in York city centre, to visit the Jorvik viking Centre, to terrify ourselves at York Dungeons and munch on fish and chips in the quaint seaside town of Robin Hood's Bay, as well as strawberry picking at the farm shop farm a mile and a half away.

The children loved staying up late roasting marshmallows over the campfire while we sipped wine and got to know our fellow campers. Add because we'd added a bargain into the bargain, we were smiling all the way to the bank! And, by the sounds of it, so are the owners.

“We’ve now been approached by nine or ten other landowners throughout the UK who are interested in us setting up an identical business for them so we may start to become involved more in that aspect of the business in future,” says Christian.

So, who knows, my ‘little secret’ may soon start to become more commonplace – let’s hope so!