Tag Archives: High School

Sunset High: The Night Before (#10) By Linda A. Cooney

Posted on December 19, 2023 by mondomolly

Will they spend the holidays apart, or will they set aside their pride in time to start the New Year right? I am starting to run low on holiday-themed YA titles (whither Elaine Harper?) so I’ve been reaching for a … Continue reading →

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Fifteen #1: No More “Little Miss Perfect” By Laura O’Neill

Posted on June 29, 2023 by mondomolly

The new me may surprise you. Maybe I’ll see you around– MAYBE I WON’T! The Juggernaut That Would Be Nickelodeon started out as a local experiment in cable television in the late 1970s in Columbus, Ohio: as part of the … Continue reading →

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Sing About Us By Winifred Madison

Posted on April 9, 2023 by mondomolly

How could a dream become a disaster?  Background:  Not to be confused with the similar-looking Sweet Dreams, First Love or Caprice paperback romances of the 1980s, Scholastic’s Wildfire tends to have a better quality of writing (Caroline Cooney and Ann M. Martin are a few … Continue reading →

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The Son Of Someone Famous By M.E. Kerr

Posted on February 24, 2023 by mondomolly

“MY MOTHER SUSPECTS I AM SLIGHTLY UNNATURAL.” We noted the death of YA giant Marijane Meaker, best known as M.E. Kerr, at the end of  last year: as one of the writers at Harper & Row under legendary editor Ursula … Continue reading →

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Your Happiest Years By Dick Clark

Posted on August 29, 2022 by mondomolly

Dick reviews many of the problems that face a teen-ager as he or she moves through these changing years, and suggests ways to make the years happy and profitable… What kind of advice does America’s Oldest Teenager, pictured here as … Continue reading →

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Love At First Sight (First Love From Silhouette #9) By Elaine Harper

Posted on June 20, 2022 by mondomolly

How could nature have produced such virile perfection? Background: I am on the record about how I’ve turned around my opinion on Silhouette’s First Love romances (“AMERICA’S publisher of Contemporary Romance”), at least when it comes to Elaine Harper’s terminally … Continue reading →

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Movie Madness And/Or Mania: Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones (1971)

Posted on April 28, 2022 by mondomolly

Back in 2014 I wrote about the 1967 teens-in-trouble classic Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones, in which author Ann Head (the penname for non-YA writer Anne Wales Christensen), tells the story of how two high school seniors cope with … Continue reading →

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Fat Jack By Barbara Cohen

Posted on April 7, 2022 by mondomolly

“A person never gets over high school, Judy.” I’ve written before about my general impression of YA fiction moving from topical issues based on shock value in the 1970s (Drugs! Cults! Satan!) and into more internal crises of the characters … Continue reading →

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Movie Madness And/Or Mania: The Late Great Me! Story Of A Teenage Alcoholic (1979)

Posted on March 2, 2022 by mondomolly

A number of ABC’s Afterschool Specials (and CBS’s School Break Specials and NBC’s Special Treat) have been made available on YouTube; while usually associated with heavy-handed renderings of TEEN ISSUES (DRUGS! DRINKING! SHOPLIFTING! CULTS! ALL THE GREATEST HITS!) a number of these specials adapted contemporary … Continue reading →

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Wrapping Up The Imaginary Summer Book Club: She Let Him Continue By Stephen Geller

Posted on December 15, 2021 by mondomolly

(Click here for information on the 2021 edition of Molly’s Imaginary Summer Book Club Featuring Classics of Women’s Literature.  This week, the 0final selection She Let Him Continue By Stephen Geller) Well, as usual, what was intended to be a … Continue reading →

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