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Chick Lit in YAChick Lit in YABy Ellen Norton and Erin Sloan

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How would you describe How would you describe “Chick Lit” for young “Chick Lit” for young

adults?adults?

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The History The History The Chick Lit genre originated with Bridget

Jones’ Diary (1996) by Helen Fielding. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging:

Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (2000) by Louise Rennison was arguably the first YA chick lit novel.

Soon after came The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (2001) by Ann Brashares

Popularity of the “Angus” and “Pants” series established YA Chick Lit as an emerging genre.

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Chick Lit Defined As:Chick Lit Defined As:

“Upbeat, entertaining…reads, written mostly by women that feature young female characters. These books can be about boys, friendship, family, fitting in, or vacations…almost always involve self-discovery, offer an uplifting ending, and spotlight characters that are easy for girls to relate to.” (Meloni, Christine. Chickalicious.)

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Or Defined As:Or Defined As:

“Chick is a derogatory term for the presumably empty-headed girls or young women who are both the characters and the readers; lit is an ironic reference to the assumed lack of quality writing in the form. (Campbell, The Lit of Chick Lit)

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A Genre With Many FacesA Genre With Many Faces Some see Chic Lit as brainless genre

which focuses more on shopping and social status than anything else. › Gossip Girl or The A-List

Others see Chic Lit as a genre that girls can relate to—a genre that follows an archetypal pattern usually involving a young girl coming of age.› The Rise and Fall of a 10th Grade Social

Climber or The Queen of Cool

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Sub Genres of Chick LitSub Genres of Chick Lit

The popularity of Chick Lit has created many off-shoots, including:› Fantasy› Amateur Detectives› Spies› “Lad Lit”

(Meloni, Chickalicious)

8FantasyFantasyVampires, Ghosts, Werewolves, etc. These books usually revolve around high schoolers dealing with the supernatural and everyday issues.

9Amateur DetectivesAmateur Detectives

Detective stories for young adults are generally more comical than serious.

10SpiesSpies

Protagonists of these books tend to have more training than their “detective” counterparts. The girls in spy books have a myriad of skills such as hand-to-hand fighting and computer hacking.

11““Lad Lit”Lad Lit”

The male counterpart to “Chick Lit”, the boys are at the center of these novels. Lad lit also centers on school, family, love, etc.

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YA Lit Chick Lit and FilmYA Lit Chick Lit and Film Many teen oriented films over the past

few years have been based off YA “chick lit” books.

Examples: The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Twilight, and The Princess Diaries series

TV has shown an interest as well with shows such as Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries (although these are loose interpretations of the text).

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Angus, Thongs, and Full Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal SnoggingFrontal Snogging

First book in a series that follows Georgia Nicolson, a British teen looking for love from the “Sex God”, better ways to ditch school, and a bra that fits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifAKDCtwXnE

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The Sisterhood of the The Sisterhood of the Travelling PantsTravelling Pants

Four friends, a pair of jeans that fit them all, and their first summer away from each other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKcIG8D8FOY

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Any Questions?Any Questions?

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SourcesSources

Campbell, Patty. "The Lit of Chick Lit." Horn Book Magazine. 82.4 (2006): 487-91. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7d7f97c2-c597-4f2b-8e34-d5a8612d19ab@sessionmgr113&vid=5&hid=106>.

Clark, Ruth C. "Older Teens Are Serious About Their Series: Forensic Mysteries, Graphic Novels, Horror, Supernatural, and Chick Lit Series.." Library Media Connection. 27.3 (2008): 22-23. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer>.

Meloni, Christine. "Chickalicious." School Library Journal. 56.6 (2010): 32-35. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7d7f97c2-c597-4f2b-8e34-d5a8612d19ab@sessionmgr113&vid=3&hid=106>.