tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27643523.post7149660961847406103..comments2024-03-20T03:11:21.756-07:00Comments on The Great Raven: NAOMI AND ELY’S NO-KISS LIST By Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 22008Sue Bursztynskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27643523.post-74227345331372126502008-12-06T18:17:00.000-08:002008-12-06T18:17:00.000-08:00Thanks, Kate. I agree with you about most things a...Thanks, Kate. I agree with you about most things and in fact I said so in my review, but I stand by my comments about the swearing. I just didn't feel it was believable or necessary to describe everything as "f-" this or that. Maybe it's because I don't work with hip young things, only with teenagers in a poorer suburb of Melbourne. They just don't talk like that. They use four-letter words about a quarter of the time that these characters do. And yes, kids will probably hear most of this stuff in the schoolyard and any kid who wants to borrow Naomi and Ely from my library can do so. I just think all the swearing distracts from the positive elements and I am pretty sure my own younger students will giggle and say, "Ooh, Miss, have you read this?" and they won't be talking about the storyline or characterisation.Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27643523.post-3971037261511199872008-12-01T16:47:00.000-08:002008-12-01T16:47:00.000-08:00i am surprised the four-letter words jumped out at...i am surprised the four-letter words jumped out at you so much that you would reserve it for older readers. in my experience, school-leavers and those in their final years are not the kind of people to look in askance at their parents when they swear - especially not these hip, young new yorkers who have been independent since being toilet trained... i think that while i didn't enjoy naomi and ely quite as much as nick and norah, it is still one of the funniest books i read this year, great characterisation and the language/speech spot-on.<BR/>additionally, i think that these authors have very responsible attitudes to their readers, i found that in both their books the reader is left with a nicely understated message, be it about relationships or alcohol... and i will not hesitate from recommending it to my teenage customers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com