The Sex and the City (SATC) movie has been inescapable these last few weeks. While, it may not have strong appeal to teens—though I have heard of moms and daughters watching together—the cultural trickle-down of anything so massive in popular culture is bound to be reflected. Some teen books seem to me to be close cousins.
The series most similar to SATC is the The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.(opens in a new window) “The Sisterhood”, which features four friends, who seemingly have little in common, save their ability to share the same pair of jeans, is one of the strongest entries in the “girlfriends” genre of books. Just like their older counterparts in SATC, the girls have guy problems, self-esteem issues, and occassionally issues with each other. But ultimately, they are a tight-knit group of friends—a nice alternative to the “mean girls” found elsewhere.
Mean girls have their own SATC in the Gossip Girl(opens in a new window) series. Here, the boy problems and self-esteem issues meet massive shopping and drinking, and the friends do occassionally have big issues with each other. Launched in 2002, at the height of SATC mania, Gossip Girl has become a cultural phenomenon that doesn’t flinch from showing rich girls in all their sordid glory. Girls that can handle the edgier content are devouring this series as much as ever.
A combination of the sweetness of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and the lifestyles of the rich and famous approach of Gossip Girl is Melissa de la Cruz’s Au Pairs(opens in a new window) series. Featuring three girls of disparate backgounds and personalities, they have one big thing in common—they all need money and end up working (and playing) together by nannying young children in the Hamptons.
Remember that teens, especially older teens, want to read like adults (and be like adults in lots of other ways too!) Rather than jump right into chick lit with 20- and 30-something characters, these books allow teens to experience the same fun, fluffy, escapist reading that adult women do!