Who is puberty blues written by

Yes - what many may not know is that Puberty Blues the novel was semi-autobiographical, with authors Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey being in their teens when they wrote it, thereby making it the first teen novel in Australia actually written by teenagers. Both Kathy and Gabrielle grew up in the Sutherland Shire, and left school early at around They then moved in together and started producing a series of skits based around surf groups of the area and their own experiences with them, then decided to use these as the bases for the book, Puberty Blues.

The novel of Puberty Blues is far more confronting and controversial. In the book, Deb and Sue are thirteen, however due to censorship issues in the film, the characters ages were lifted to sixteen. First you have your sharp intake of breath and eyes widening in shock then after awhile your mind is clear and very aware with nothing that is hazy and uncertain.

After reading this book I came to a realisation that even after over 20 years when this book was first published, teenage girls are still facing these issues. Of course there aren't as nearly a lot of guys who treat girls the same way as they were in this novel of course there are still exceptions and girls are less hostile talking to other girls about sex.

I guess that is why this book seems ageless and is still loved by many people. Even though I didn't exactly do any of the things that Debbie and Susan did when I was their age and was most likely one of the girls they called "the nerds" who sat at the front of the bus and read books it didn't make it any less enjoyable for me and it was fun reading all the slang and I admit I started mimicking and saying them aloud to myself.

I didn't like that the book was such a small read, I remember picking the book up from the library and thinking "that's it? View 2 comments. Some parts riveting, other parts slightly boring. Very Australian, but even I had trouble understanding some of the slang. First published in , it encapsulates the youth culture of s Sydney. While the language is completely authentic, it lost me on the content.

Puberty Blues tells the story of of Debbie and Sue, two thirteen-year-olds desperate to make into one of the surfie gangs that hang around Cronulla Beach. As they try to make it to the top of the social heirarchy, they lea Review originally posted on A Keyboard and an Open Mind 07 April I think I can see how this book ended up a cult classic. As they try to make it to the top of the social heirarchy, they learn about sex, drugs, boys, and ultimately, themselves.

First things first, Rebecca McCauley narrated the book perfectly. She had the Western suburbs accent down pat and this added to the authenticity of the book. There were times when I felt like I was listening to a three-hour Kylie Mole sketch, but this book is exactly the type of suburban Sydney life that Kylie Mole was parodying.

When Puberty Blues was made into a TV show a few years ago, they upped the ages of the main characters to sixteen, and I can see why they did, even if it did cop criticism. There was also the issue that while the characters were very well drawn, there was very little plot.

As it was, I had little to identify with. This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge Click here for more information. Initial review: The language in this was so authentically s Australian and ditto Rebecca McCauley's narration. That's why this is getting two stars. I wonder if you need to read it as a teenager to really get everything out of it?

Feb 07, Melinda rated it liked it Shelves: re-read. I just re-read this book after many many years and to be totally honest it horrified me. I certainly don't remember feeling like that back when I was a teenager but perhaps I was more caught up with being immortal then?

This book is a very very quick read. It's a cult classic. It's shocking. It's real. Its colloquial. It's written with all the twang and sophistication of a 13 year old Australian girl. I think it's horrifying because they are 13 year old girls who spend all thei I just re-read this book after many many years and to be totally honest it horrified me.

I think it's horrifying because they are 13 year old girls who spend all their time chasing surfer boys, trying to have sex, being groped Their parents seem to have no clue what they are doing and it all just seems really sad.

The boys really treat the girls like crap emotionally, sexually and physically and that was just how it was. Thank goodness some things have changed. I grew up in the 70's, not in Cronulla but in a smaller seaside town.

I was still in primary school in so I guess things were not quite the same era for me as they were for our authors. But still, My parents never let me have a boyfriend at that age, go around in cars with boys, they knew all my friends and their parents And I can remember thinking it was incredibly unfair to have all these rules I can't imagine my life I'd gotten pregnant or drug addicted so young. I guess this book wasn't quite a nostalgic walk in the park for me. It stirred up fairly intense feelings of rage and sadness for those young girls I'd like to think we've fixed all this sort of stuff in society but I don't think we are there yet.

We've come along way and I'd like to think my friends daughters, would know more, be more confident, more resilient But I have hopes that one day in the future no girls will be treated this shabbily. They just won't put up with it and the boys just won't think that's the right behavior either Sep 24, Jaslyn rated it liked it. This book follows best friends Debbie and Sue as they try to get into the popular gang with all the top chicks and surfie spunks.

It follows their journey with boyfriends, losing their virginity, smoking weed and other hard drugs. The only reason I really wanted to read this book is because one of the characters in This book follows best friends Debbie and Sue as they try to get into the popular gang with all the top chicks and surfie spunks. The only reason I really wanted to read this book is because one of the characters in it is based on a lady I used to work with.

It was an interesting read on what teenage life was like back in the 70s and what the balance was like between men and women. From a story perspective it was a bit flakey but as a historical account sort of I suppose it was interesting.

In this instance I would probably say the TV show is more interesting. Read more on my blog. My god, how did anyone escape life as a teenager. It's been years since I read this, but it's a shocking read post- the metoo movement. Nov 24, Lisa rated it liked it Shelves: australian-reads , young-adult-children , retro-reads. Holy crap that was insane. Two young girls being insanely taken advantage of by the local yobbos.

Far out. Jul 04, Heidi rated it liked it Shelves: fiction-young-adult , fiction-australian , fiction , aus-women-list , aus-women Deservedly or otherwise, Puberty Blues is a classic of Australian writing. In some cases it's known because it's notorious - for its portrayal of sex, of gender relationships in a particular place and time, for lifting the lid on gender inequalities and gendered behaviours in the southern beachside suburbs of Sydney in the s.

It's the sort of book that many of my peers read in high school, much closer to the age of the protagonists Debbie and Sue than I am. However, I'm really glad that I didn't read it when I was a teenager, as it would probably have scared me even more about high school, peer pressure, and the travails of adolescence than I already was. Reading it now, I'm still horrified by everything the girls go through; horrified by their acceptance of what the boys put them through, horrified by the boys actions and opinions.

Thankful that it bears no resemblance to my own adolescence whatsoever. I did find myself confused by the point of view at times. I found Debbie and Sue difficult to distinguish, and there were certain switches from first person to third and back again that confounded me.

A further point in relation to the particular edition I read. It's the first British edition, so I don't actually know how I got it at the Pan Macmillan firesale where I got it for 50c. It has two forewords written by Germaine Greer and Kylie Minogue, who are basically chosen for being fellow Aussies who are well known in Britain as is one of the co-authors, Kathy Lette. Feb 09, Mark Abbott rated it liked it. I have read this book twice, firstly when it came out and thirty years later.

I should point out when it came out it was regarded as the book that blew a lot of late seventies taboo's out of the water. This book shocked people in the Shire. I also remember thinking of Lette's association with Cronulla when she was in fact from the less desirable Sylvania Heights local knowledge here.

The book is written from the perspective that she was in THE group in Cronulla, in truth at this time Cronulla w I have read this book twice, firstly when it came out and thirty years later. The book is written from the perspective that she was in THE group in Cronulla, in truth at this time Cronulla was full of groups of youths who felt this way about themselves. My initial reaction was that it was a poorly written book which dramatised bad behaviour.

Reading it thirty years later I feel differently about it, I don't think it is poorly written and I think the pace of the book is it's saving grace. It is a short book at one hundred and thirty page, I re-read it in an afternoon. I don't think the book is so much about dating in Cronulla, as it is about young girls chasing alpha males and having the terms of romance dictated to them.

This story could have happened anywhere and I dare say it still does happen to this day. Lette's character's behaviour to other girls in this book is appalling. I can't say I had strong feelings about any of the characters in the book, and as stated by an earlier review there isn't any real evidence of personal growth, but it is such a strong story that needed to be told.

Jul 11, Julia rated it liked it. I first read this book when I was a young teenager and I remember it being a huge book, a big story and the thing I took away from it was the drugs rather than the sex I think rereading this as an adult without children , it almost a memo I first read this book when I was a young teenager and I remember it being a huge book, a big story and the thing I took away from it was the drugs rather than the sex I think rereading this as an adult without children , it almost a memoir, although I never got into the back of cars or shot up heroin, I do remember.

Remember being a teenager and being obsessed with boys, smoking under the underpass and sneaking out. We always told our parents we were going to Rhonda's house because Rhonda's Mum didn't have a phone so we were basically free for the day and no one knew where we were from sunup to sundown.

Puberty Blues is not high literature by any means but like reading your own childhood diary again, the language you use and what was desperately important back then, upon reflection is funny and sad and nostalgic. I am not sure how the TV series is going to go the real reason I revisited this book - the fact that this is a true story and that the girls were only 13! I imagine being a parent and rereading it, you would never let your daughters out!!!

View all 3 comments. I read an excerpt of this book a while back and always told myself to read the full thing. It wasn't until a visit to the library that I finally borrowed the book. It was a short novel, only just over pages, but the content inside this book made me mindblown. I reside in Sydney, which houses Cronulla. And I recently went down to the beach. I was so happy to read a book set in Sydney, but the historical context of this book was what really differentiated my lifestyle to Deb and Sue's.

Now a major television series on Channel 10 starring Ashleigh Cummings, Brenna Harding and Claudia Karvan - this is the definitive Australian story of teenagers navigating the chaos of life.

For Deb and Sue, life is about surfies, panel vans, straight-leg Levis, nicking off from school, getting wasted and fitting in. I was about thirteen, alone in my bedroom with the door firmly shut. I was fascinated' -- Kylie Minogue. Gabrielle Carey. Gabrielle Carey published her first co-written book, Puberty Blues, while still in her teens. She has since written biography, autobiography, memoir, essays and articles. For twenty-five years Gabrielle taught writing at various universities including the University of Canberra, the University of Western Sydney and the University of Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney.

She is now a full-time writer and vagabond scholar. Kathy Lette. Kathy Lette is a celebrated and outspoken comic writer who has an inimitable take on serious current issues.

She is one of the pioneering voices of contemporary feminism, paving the way for Caitlin Moran and Lena Dunham. She is known for her regular appearances on BBC and Sky news programmes. Kathy Lette lives in London, and can often be found at The Savoy drinking a cocktail named after her. Kathy is an autodidact a word she taught herself but in , received an honorary doctorate from Southampton Solent University. Visit her website at www.

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