The Year My Life Went Down the Loo

I am an adult who stumbled on this book while looking for a book for my 10 year-old neice. While it is definitely too mature for her, I absolutely loved it! I like the way the book is composed of e-mails from Emily describing her exploits with her new friends in England to her friend, Dru, back in the States. The made-up "Emily" words sound like the way two teenage best girlfriends talk to each other. Being an Anglophile myself, I loved reading about Emily learning and using the local slang. Although Emily thinks going to England for a year is the worst possible thing that could happen to her, the three boys she meets there make things interesting. One boy, Fang, is a sweet guy that Emily likes as a friend, but doesn't quite see as the one who really cares about her. I like Emily's father, who is really a pretty cool guy, although Emily thinks he's ancient and a constant source of embarrassment to her. I'd say this book would appeal to any teen girl 14 or older, or even younger if they're precocious like I was at that age.

I took this on vacation with me and found it the perfect read. The only problem was sometimes as I'd read it on the Florida beach, I couldn't help laughing out loud and people would stare at me. The scene where Emily goes to a speculum party was one of the funniest things I've ever read.The main character is absolutely adorable. She's so well drawn-- good-intentioned, but repeatedly screwing things up-- that I couldn't help rooting for her throughout the book.My vacation was definitely more fun because I took this book along!

Emily seems like every typical teenager out there, except she has to move to England, across from her friends and familiarity. The book is humorous, from the start. The underwear drawer is possessed in Emily's room. Every teenager loves to shop, but in England, there aren't too many shops to choose from. Emily faces every day BOY problems. She develops a crush for one boy who just wants to snog around with Emily. Emily encounters different relationships with various boys, and experiances true parties, hand holding, and the first kiss with a new boy. I feel bad for Emily at her new strict school, but it's so very funny. All the teachers make Emily sound as if she's a rebel who dreams of getting in trouble. Emily wears too much makeup, too short of shorts, and doesn't know a thing of French. A very adorable book, a must read for any teenage girl.

England. That's where Emily Williams' crazy parents have moved her too, from their cozy, if not incredibly rainy, home in Seattle, where she had to leave her best friend, Dru, behind. Of course, that's not the worst part of it. Aside from there being no malls in England (no malls? AAAAHHHH!!!), Emily is forced to live in a haunted house, where she has her very own underwear pervert (what kind of ghost steals underwear from a sixteen-year-old girl?). But that's still not the worst of it. Her new town is called Piddlington-on-the-Weld, she's starting at a new school, where she will be a sophomore, as opposed to the junior she would have been back in Seattle, she has to wear a pukish looking school uniform (maroon and teal, blech! What person in their right mind would combine those two colors?), and she's not to wear make-up at school (but how will she cover-up those unsightly blemishes?)Of course, Emily's negativity about England and Piddlington-on-the-Weld soon decrease, when she realizes that not everything is bad. Emily not only meets three totally hot guys (Aidan, Devon, and Fang), but she also finds out that her hunk-a-licious crush, and absolute favorite actor in the entire universe, Oded Fehr, is filming a movie nearby, and Emily is completely convinced that she'll be able to not only meet him, but also to convince him to marry her. Not to mention that her newfound friend, Holly, helps her to survive certain ups and downs that Dru can't be there to experience along with her."The Year My Life Went Down the Loo" is written entirely in e-mails from Emily to her best friend in Seattle, Dru. Girls of all ages will find themselves laughing out loud at Emily's crazy antics and experiences, but will also find themselves relating to many of the things Emily has to go through. A great start to a great new series.

Katie Macalister - Queen of the first person proses - is not content with taking historical and contemporary romance by storm...she now takes on the trials and tribulations of being a teen. A transplanted one at that. A modern, hip Seattle 16 year old is uprooted and dropped into culture shock - to the very foreigner land of England. Done in the manner of email rants, it is funny musing on the difference in two cultures that share the same language, but somehow seem to mangle it in their own special way.It is a marvel romp for teens, but everyone can have a wonderful laugh at this culture rip-lash diatribe.There are more Emily rants to come, and I look forward to them. A breath of fresh air for teen reading.