As I mentioned in the Wizard of Oz post, my current project stars an eighth grade girl. As I have never actually been an eighth grade girl and since I don't currently have a daughter in the eighth grade and because eavesdropping on eighth grade girls at the mall is probably not the best thing for a thirty-three-year-old man to be doing, I need some help.
Basically, I need to know how to think like an eighth grade girl.
So while I am sure it would be great fun for you to tell me everything you remember about your eighth grade selves, I'd actually rather use stuff from, you know, literature.
So if you don't mind, would you please list in the comments books that feature an eighth grade girl as the main character?*
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*And just so we're all clear, I'm not looking for eighth grade girl slang or speech patterns, but more for the types of things they notice and think about.
TIA
BBL
15 comments:
The writing may be just below your age range, but I feel Wendy Mass conveys her girl characters well. This is coming from a 24-year old guy, but ya know.
I can't wait to see what Tina and Heather think TIA and BBL stand for.
I have my diary from eighth grade, I'll look back on it and then get back to you. I'm planning on posting snippets from it (it's 3rd-8th grade) at some point to show voice from those ages. I'm sure Anita's daughter will be of great help to you on this.
Also, you have been awarded on my blog, too, multi-award winning blogger.
TIA? I think TV is awesome too! (I have no idea what TIA means, I'm thinking BBL is be back later?)
Hmmm... some ideas: The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z; Rules; Letters From Rapunzel; Dani Noir; and Also Known As Harper. I read those recently when I was reading through Middle Grade Fiction for a month... They were all pretty good and all feature girl MCs who were about 8th grade age (give or take a year or two). Good luck tapping into your inner pre-teen girl! ;)
8th grade was THE WORST year for my step-daughter. Every day there was some kind of drama about who hated who. It's like they were all suddenly jockeying for position as alpha female and getting there by attacking the others. Ugly. 8th grade girls are ugly.
Eighth Grade protags? I'll think on that.
TIA is totally the Tampa International Airport.
And BBL= the German Basketball league. Bundesliga. Cool.
Or Kelly is right. And I can't wait to read her diary!
I can't remember reading much in 8th grade. there really wasn't time, in between talking on the phone with friends, being with friends, and omg homework.
But I did love the color Purple. Not the book, but the actual color. EVERYTHING was purple.
I have a journal where I reported what I wore to every outing, and what Sue and Erin wore (my bff/s) and what Keith (my crush) wore. I don't really know why I did that.
There was an all purple outfit I debuted at a bowling party. It didn't go over as planned.
Some might be name Tracy.
My oldest son is that age. Not sure if this will help or not, but according to him, the best word used to describe an 8th grade girl is...DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!
I thought the end of the blog post read: TnA
Geeze, I remember a LOT of note passing. My friends and I had whole notebooks that we traded in between classes, so it would look like we were taking notes on the class while we were really writing back and forth.
Of course, now you would just text, so that's probably not even a relevant example anymore...
Anita, this is lovely. OD is totally a protag! You are totally a writer.
In 8th grade I was obssessed with Anne Frank, and honestly, she's a pretty good model of an 8th grade, despite the tragic circumstances.
I also adored Anne of Green Gables. Sorry can't think of any more contempory examples to show you though.
That comment was for a limited-time only. Am totally paranoid. But thank you, Tina!
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