GIRL TALK SERIES

Of all the 80s/early 90s girly book series I have read, and that is a large number, these have by far the most typos I have ever seen. Poor Girl Talk. I'm frankly appalled that this series based on A GAME FOR FUCK'S SAKE got more books than the fabulous Sleepover Friends. Sleepover Friends has 38 plus a Super Special, while Girl Talk clocks in with a shocking 45. Definitely the worst-written, longest-running of these series. Aside from having a shitton of typos, these books sometimes just end abruptly and there are so many new romances, it makes my head spin. Sabrina, the bubbly redhead with acting dreams, has a new crush almost every book. Sometimes they work out, but by the next book, she's on to someone else. Like in #11, she likes Michel, the new boy from Canada, and he likes her, too, but in #14, she has a crush on Arizonna (yes, really), the new boy from LA. I don't know if Michel even got mentioned in #12 or #13. I don't think so. Stuff like that makes me sad, because I really do like the characters. Each one takes a turn being the "I" character of each book, BSC-style.

Sabrina "Sabs" Wells: She's the aforementioned redhead. Very boy crazy, very dramatic, but also she's very popular. She's the nice, friendly girl that everyone in school likes, except for the stuck-up popular people. She's also a twin and has I think 3 older brothers besides? 2 or 3. Her twin, Sam, is also a fun character.

Katie Campbell: Katie's the blonde preppy one, who's a bit harder to get to know than Sabrina. She's not mean, just more reserved and studious. But she's also the only girl on the ice hockey team, so that's fun. Katie's dad died three years ago at the point I'm at in the series and her mom is beginning to date. She has a perfect older sister that she tends to feel overshadowed by.

Rowena "Randy" Zak: The girl from NYC. She's got spiky Joan Jett-esque hair, wears a lot of black, skateboards, plays drums and is really into music. Her parents divorced and she's living in Minnesota now with her mom, who's an artist and sort of scatterbrained in an artsy way. (Wants Randy's friends to call her by her name, not Ms. So-and-So, sometimes gets so into art that she forgets to eat and sleep for awhile, etc.) I love Randy, because as I've said, I've read a lot of these series and I can't think of another character that was more edgy like her. If there's a rebel character at all, they tend to stick around for one book, but not Randy.

Allison Cloud: Allison is the Jessi of Girl Talk. It's always mentioned that she's a "real" Native American. As opposed to a fake one? I dunno. She's Chippewa. Why can't they just say that? Like each girl has a little blurb on the first page before the title page and everything and this is mentioned there, so why keep repeating it in every book? (By the way, Jessi is BLACK and Mal is WHITE.) Anyway, Allison is the quiet, studious one who loves to read and write, which sounds just like Katie minus the hockey and coordinated outfits. However, Allison is more than just "exotic" Katie. When I first read BSC way, way back, I was a kid and didn't realize how bizarre the description of "exotic" really is, but now that I'm an adult, it's fucking annoying. She's not exotic. She's just not white. Yeesh. Although in terms of this type of book, she IS exotic. She is both "strikingly unusual in appearance" and "of a uniquely new and experimental nature," because she is the only Native American girly book character I can think of. ANYWAY. Allison is pretty awesome. I usually gravitate toward the brainy characters, especially if they're writers, and she's sweet and sensitive to boot. She and Randy are my faves.

So great characters, bad writing, but still plenty of light-reading fun. I don't necessarily recommend the series if you haven't read Sleepover Friends, SVT, BSC, Fabulous Five, etc., but if you have and you're looking for something similar, give it a shot. I didn't get very far. I'm at the beginning of #15. But I'm not going to cover it for a book post again unless something major happens.