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Revision as of 13:15, 14 September 2020
, 13:15, 14 September 2020no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Withering Tights
|author=Louise Rennison
|reviewer=John Lloyd
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=320
|publisher=Harper Collins Children's Books
|date=July 2010
|isbn=978-0007156832
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>0007156839</amazonuk>|amazonusaznuk=0007156839|aznus=<amazonus>0007323905</amazonus>
}}
But it's brilliant to see how fresh Tallulah instantly is. She manages to fit right into the template, and also sound nothing like Georgia. She is, it turns out early on, a cousin, and slightly younger at fourteen and a half, but she's much more descriptive, mature in her considerations of the Yorkshire desolation that surrounds her, and able to expand muchly on her world. She's surrounded by characters, and not people identified by over-repetition of one detail (flicky hair, flicky hair...)
And while before we were in Eastbourne (possibly without knowing, until the film came out at least), and in a diary format that got us fully into the actions and moods of a narrator with a fine line in sarcasm, comedic timing and quick wit, here we have something very different. With Tallulah being more literary, less concerned with being herself against all odds in every paragraph, her world is more fully realised, and is all the richer for it. The plot is mired in the obvious - but not as obvious as before - but much more balanced between great scenes from the drama workshops, and Tallulah's private life.
This is definitely recognisable as Louise Rennison, but is such a great leap forward from her other umpteen books. Now if someone could stop Tallulah from switching so jarringly from past to present tense in the same paragraph so often, one of these girls would have got five stars.
There's a different girl finding herself needing a boyfriend and less attention from the public eye in [[Million Dollar Mates by Cathy Hopkins]]. Would you like to hear more about [[The Taming of the Tights by Louise Rennison|tights]] from Rennison?
{{amazontext|amazon=0007156839}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=74772230007156839}}
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[[Category:Confident Readers]]
