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TEENREADS.COM
NEWSLETTER
AOL Keyword: The Book Bag
Teenreads.com
March 9 , 2001

Dear Reader,

Peggy Murphy had an enormous head and I think I've finally figured out why: In order to accommodate the devious plans her mind was perpetually hatching, she needed an exceptionally large noggin'.

When I was a freshman in high school Peggy Murphy convinced me that it would be a really good idea to cut school, take the train into the city, and go the St. Patrick's Day parade. She assured me that we wouldn't get caught because we would paint our faces green, and this way no one would recognize us as we were stealthily slipping out the back after third period. At the time this made sense to me. In my own defense, I did not become smart until my junior year.

As it turned out, Peggy Murphy's plan had two fundamental problems with it. They were as follows: (1) Painting one's face green -- or any color for that matter -- was in clear violation of school dress code. This fact was pointed out to us by our principal as he was writing us up for a month of detentions. (2) I am highly allergic to oil-based face paint. My face swells. It is hideous.

Peggy Murphy was my friend for three months. How she came to befriend me I have no idea; and how I came to de-friend her is best left for my tell-all autobiography, which is tentatively titled: SURVIVING PEGGY MURPHY AND HER ENORMOUS HEAD.

Ever had a friend like Peggy Murphy? Ever had a friend with a really big head? Tell me about it: Babyswingster@aol.com.

REVENGE OF THE FED-UP SIBLINGS...

Man, I must have really hit a nerve with last week's rant because my mailbox was flooded with messages from some pretty fed-up siblings. (Don't tell anyone but one night, when I was really bored and there was nothing good on TV, I decided to count all the exclamation points used in the subject line of each reply -- as in Subject: My sister must go!!!!!!! There were 233 in total! That's a lot of why-couldn't-I-have-been-an-only-child angst.)

As promised, here are several of the more notable responses I received:

"I am the oldest of six, and I am a Sophomore in high school. I have 1 brother, and 4 sisters. They make me so mad, sometimes I wish they would all just go away for a while. Don't get me wrong, I love them, especially my 3 year old sister, who is so cute (and may be a Devil child, lol) but I just can't take them all the time."
--- submitted by: Rarmj26

"Some times my brother and sister can be so annoying it's not even funny. I practically have to do everything for them cuz they are too lazy and I share a room with my sister which makes things even worse cuz I gotta do all the cleaning in my room while most of the time she is the one making the mess!!!"
---submitted by: Dreamgrl419

"To quote the amazing musician, Juliana Hatfield: I hate my sister, she's such a [word we can't say]... And then in the next refrain: I love my sister, why did she go? Ha-ha, yup, right now, I'm hating my sister, she's being a jerk, but eventually I'll get over it, so I am always sure never to be too cruel or too hurtful. I make sure never to say anything unforgivable that I truly don't mean, or else in the future I'll be singing, "why did she go?"
---submitted by: Diva122222

"My sister is a ten year old red head. I'm an 18 year old blonde (no, not out of the bottle). I am bidable. She only listens to Dad. I enjoy being left alone, she enjoys hovering over me. To sum her up perfectly, one morning (Saturday morning at that), she came barging into my room with her friend Ashley, pushed a bunch of clean clothes off of my chair, sat down at the typewriter, and started pecking at the keys. Then she wondered why I was so grumpy with her for the rest of the day. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
---submitted by: Katherine MC

"Everytime I say something my sister makes an argument out of it and then I get into trouble for starting the argument. She also is very annoying because she always want to know what I am doing and where I am going just like a mother."
submitted by: Marparkes

NEW THIS WEEK...

MUSIC MAKES THE PEOPLE COME TOGETHER...
Call it a post-Grammy high. Call it finding a creative solution to the problem of having way too many music-y books in the office. Whatever the reason, the Teenreads.com staff thought it was the perfect time to remind y'all of just how important music is, was, and always will be to contemporary youth culture with a round-up of really cool --- and some just really silly --- music-inspired books. Go check it out!

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN...
We were so desperate to make this year's St. Patrick's Day celebration the best ever that the Teenreads.com staff actually spent weeks walking around New York, looking for the most Irish person in the city to help us with this feature. And we found him! Unfortunately, Conan O'Brien was busy. So we got our resident leprechaun to do it instead. Check out her picks of the best Irish fiction (if only to make her feel like less of a reject). .

Written In The Stars...
Tired of asking your friends for advice? Sure, looking to the stars could be a little flaky, but it worked for the ancient Greeks, Romans, Aztecs and Egyptians. Drew Barrymore and Gwen Stefani are big fans of astrology and they can't be wrong, right? Teenreads.com's very own delphic oracle has chosen the best books for Pisces. Go check it out!

DOVE SONG by Kristine L. Franklin
Bobbie Lynn's father is in the army. She and her family have moved all over the United States for as long as she can remember. But now her father is being sent to Vietnam, and Bobby Lynn cannot even begin to comprehend what her life might be like there.

GRAVEYARD GIRL by Wendy B. Lewis
Jonny Dart can't forget the haunting memory of his sister's Janine's death in a fall over a cliff. Was he responsible? Could he have saved her? Only he and their friend Bonny witnessed the fall and agreed to say that Jonny was not near the cliff when Janine fell. Jonny must connect with Bonny to relive these events again and try to make sense out of his jumbled memories.

LIFE IS A MOVIE STARRING YOU: The Pesky Meddling Girls Guide to Living Your Dream by Jennifur Brandt
Rejoice, bored gals of America! Jennifur Brandt is here to make every day a glamorous one. Founder and editor of the popular 'zine, Pesky Meddling Girls, Jennifur has collected all her best beauty, decorating and crush tips in one swank volume.

STILL GOING STRONG...

24 HOURS by Margaret Mahy
Just home after graduating from prep school, seventeen-year-old Ellis meets former grade-school classmates Jackie Cattle and Christo Kilmer. These two boys, along with three sisters, will help trigger the bizarre events of the next twenty-four hours.

MEMORY by Margaret Mahy
Jonny Dart can't forget the haunting memory of his sister's Janine's death in a fall over a cliff. Only he and their friend Bonny witnessed the fall, and both agreed to say that Jonny was not near the cliff when Janine fell. Now Jonny must connect relive these events again and try to make sense out of his jumbled memories.

LESLIE’S JOURNAL by Allan Stratton
Prepare yourself for a roller-coaster ride through relationship hell with an abusive control freak at the helm.

GODDESS OF THE NIGHT by Lynne Ewing
Four friends try to fit into the Los Angeles scene as normal teenagers. However, their unusual abilities make it impossible. What is the strange power that the moon has over them? Why does the dark of the moon change everything?

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