Puberty Blues

Jul 18, 2012 Shirley Marr rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: aussie-ya

I deadset wanted to read this book, yeah totally reckon, before they showed it on the television, rite? Those ~~slackarse molls~~ Top Chicks (who live on the good side of ~~Cronulla~~ Goodreads, so not dick'ed authors) - Mandee, Belle, Zoe and Jess, said k'niver ave a go wid ya and I thought perf! Bloody oaff we 'ad an unroole time. I wore me new angora jumper (just off layby from Grace Brothers - 'ave a feel wudya?) and we all did our nails so preedy! We looked like real disco divas ey.

... I was going...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Zoe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-favourites, favorites

3.5 STARS

Pretty Blues I have to say I mostly love is for not holding back at all, it's content was not sugar coated which I think is one of it's most strongest points.

It doesn't beat around the bush or just hint that something happened, it just is thrown in your face very much like having a bucket of cold water thrown on your face. First you have your sharp intake of breath and eyes widening in shock then after awhile your mind is clear and very aware with nothing that is hazy and uncertain.

Af...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Mandee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Mandee by: Shirley Marr

Shelves: aussie, contemporary-fiction, ya-lit, read-a-long, library, aussieya2012, aww2012, review-on-the-blog

Puberty Blues is, as Shirley puts it, an Australian cult classic. Written in 1979, our narrator, thirteen year old Debbie, tells us about the Surfie culture in Cronulla and the surrounding suburbs of Southern Sydney. Debbie and best friend, Sue, love going to the beach and dream of the day they can leave the losers of South Cronulla behind and join the cool kids at Greenhills. What follows is quite a sad coming of age tale, told in a very Australian way.

Debbie and Sue start out hanging at South...more Puberty Blues is, as Shirley puts it, an Australian cult classic. Written in 1979, our narrator, thirteen year old Debbie, tells us about the Surfie culture in Cronulla and the surrounding suburbs of Southern Sydney. Debbie and best friend, Sue, love going to the beach and dream of the day they can leave the losers of South Cronulla behind and join the cool kids at Greenhills. What follows is quite a sad coming of age tale, told in a very Australian way.

Debbie and Sue start out hanging at South Cronulla. They both have boyfriends and while the boys surf it’s the girls’ job to mind his towel, fetch him food and wait patiently for them all day. The girls don't eat in front of them and and they definitely aren't allowed to surf, but they are just happy to have surfy boyfriends. Eventually they dump these boys and move on to North Cronulla and then Greenhills. The chicks at Greenhills go to their school, they sit up the back of class and the school bus and Debbie and Sue are desperate to join them. They follow the rules: smoking, wagging school, never dobbing and wearing the standard outfit to the beach: straight leg jeans and a white tee. I don’t know who came up with this idea but nobody looks cool at the beach while wearing jeans during summer!

They eventually meet the girls’ standards and join the group. They are each paired up with a guy from the group and it’s the boys’ job to “break in” the girls. They don't get to choose the boy, the boy chooses them and they say yes even if they don't know them or like them. The girls have to “go around” with the guys and decide when to have sex with them, making sure not to do it too soon or wait too long, for fear of being a 'slack-arsed moll' or a 'tight-arsed prickteaser'. If you don't let the boy have sex with you, someone else in the gang will let you know you've been dropped.

Sex is talked about frankly in this book, there’s no romance or love involved and neither of the girls make a big deal about losing their virginity. And the girls don't like to talk about it amongst themselves, so while they're all sure that the others are having sex, they won't openly admit it to each other. There’s also talk of rape, gang rape, miscarriage, drinking, drugs and death. I found myself feeling for the girls, wanting to tell them they don’t have to put up being treated like that but I think everyone can relate to the kind of thinking behind their choices, wanting to fit in and not be a loser.

I didn’t have much of an idea of what Puberty Blues was about but I wasn’t expecting it to be so dark. I’ve grown up on the beaches and I wondered if this was an accurate portrayal of life as a teen in Australia during the late seventies, I have a feeling it is, and some aspects are the same today. Debbie tells her story in the past tense, so I knew she would be ok and I found myself unable to put the book down, worrying about the rest of the characters in her story. The ending is quite bleak but it felt true to the story.

Debbie used a lot of slang and while she sounded quite realistic I also found her voice comical due to the outdated slang. While her vocab might have been outdated, the issues are not, all of the topics discussed are still happening now making this book relevant over thirty years later.

I read Puberty Blues because Shirley organised a read-a-long in time for the new tv series and I now plan on watching the film too. I’d recommend Puberty Blues to fans of Australian and contemporary novels.

........
Obligatory glittery nail photo for the read-a-long!

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Aug 13, 2012 Belle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: inner-teen, aussie-aussie-aussie, book-vs-movie

I read Puberty Blues along with the Top Chicks Shirley,Jess, Lissa, Zoe and Mandee a couple of weeks ago, and because I'm a slack-arsed moll I'm only getting around to writing my review now.

My first encounter withPuberty Blues was when I was a young teenager; my mum would sing the theme song from the movie whenever I would get all angsty. It was as annoying as it sounds. When I was a little older I watched the movie, and was pretty horrified, cringing the whole way through. When I was a little o...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read Puberty Blues when I was 15, in the early 80's. it was a breath of fresh air. Everything we read at the time was English or American, teens were either awfully middle class or living in poverty in a coal mine. But puberty blues was like a Monday morning conversation at school - who went to whose party, who got drunk/wasted, who was dropped. Surfie boys were kings, sitting outside the library at lunchtime with cool girls (never going IN the library!). and the scandal when someone NOT cool...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A snapshot of the microcosm of a Sydney beach-side suburb, but also of the time in two girls' lives when they were 13-16 years old. I admired the rawness and honesty. I was shocked and felt bad for many of the characters, especially in light of the listing at the end of the book about who ends up where. The sentences 'That's why nearly every young Australian girl gets deflowered in a car. That's the only place there is.' is one example of how the authors thought that what they were doing was the...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Melissa (Book Nerd Reviews) rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was a big fan of the Puberty Blues TV show that was shown on Channel 10 last year. I absolutely loved this story, set in the 70's of Debbie and Sue and all the trouble they got up to. Ultimately it's a coming of age story, and even though it was written in 1979, it's still every bit as relevant today as it was back then.

For Debbie and Sue, they're two 13 year olds who are just trying to get in with the popular kids, who are surfies. They hang out at the beach, the girls watch their boyfriends...more I was a big fan of the Puberty Blues TV show that was shown on Channel 10 last year. I absolutely loved this story, set in the 70's of Debbie and Sue and all the trouble they got up to. Ultimately it's a coming of age story, and even though it was written in 1979, it's still every bit as relevant today as it was back then.

For Debbie and Sue, they're two 13 year olds who are just trying to get in with the popular kids, who are surfies. They hang out at the beach, the girls watch their boyfriends surf all day. And by night, they are experimenting. With cigarettes, with drugs and alcohol, and with sex. This certainly isn't a fluffy story about all the perks of being a teenager. It's gritty, it has a strong element of truth to it, and it highlights the danger of what can happen when you fall in with the wrong crowd.

For me, the only thing preventing me from giving it 5 stars is simply some of the dialogue. Whilst I truly enjoyed this as an Aussie myself, I couldn't help but wonder how (or even if) it would translate to a wider audience, especially internationally. Let me for a moment, become a translator and I will demonstrate *ahem*:

Rooly = Really
Slackass molls = Skanks
Perf = Perfect
K'niver = Can I have a....
Unrool = Unreal (ie awesome)
Go around wif = To be someone's boyfriend/girlfriend
Titted off = To make out with someone

Point made? Yep. And look, after watching the TV show version of this, I really liked the clever way they incorporated a lot of this into the show, and perhaps after watching it, I even found it easier to read this type of dialogue because I could visualise it all playing out in my mind. But conscious of a bigger crowd as I said. People might get it - they might not.

Disclaimer = Aussies actually don't talk like this. Maybe in the 70's. But not now. Just FYI in case you thought we were an even stranger bunch. :P

What is a pretty short book (you can read this in one sitting), it ends up getting quite heavy with themes of sex, abortion and drugs (including heroin use). I am no prude, but again, an FYI to those thinking of reading this.

A really enjoyable Aussie classic. I have been wanting to read this for many years, and I am glad I finally took the time to do it. I'd highly recommend this to Aussies, but not sure about internationally (you tell me... if you live outside Australia and you've read this, did you like it?).(less)

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Sep 26, 2012 Blake rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: needed-more-editing, my-personal-canon

Apart from the few typos (but I mean, first published in 1979...couldn't they have gotten an editor or something?) and the dialogue, spelt verbatim, which took a while to get the hang of, this book was a nice, easy read.
I'm still not sure whether the characters were real people? The authors claim that they are the main characters, and although it is branded as 'Fiction', could it be that it is not as fictitious as it seems?
Sand, surf and sex. That's what it's all about, apparently, even at thirt...more

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Blake Woah, what a wall of text! I was slowly working my way through my emails...and this one (notification thingo) was with a couple of others on the next...more Woah, what a wall of text! I was slowly working my way through my emails...and this one (notification thingo) was with a couple of others on the next page. Which I didn't know I had. So I apologise profusely for the late reply.

Yeah, I understand what you're saying about psychology...there are a LOT of people doing psychology, and yeah, most of them are pretty atheistic - and very eager to convert you, too! I hate how they always see us Christians as 'preachy' or Bible-bashers, you know? But then they want us to be more like them, which is kind of the same thing...I don't know if I'm very clear, but, in short, I agree that the course and Year 13 sound ideal. Good luck!

Yeah, I paint my nails all the time! ...

I find I fall asleep if I listen to audiobooks at night, but I've a feeling that I will listen to them more next year when I'm driving the hour to Wollongong Uni, and the hour back. People keep on telling me it's too far to drive, and I should get a flat or apartment down there, but I don't think an hour's too much. Do you? There're so many teachers that drive from Wollongong to school, every day, and they seem to cope alright. I don't know, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but the roads are basically highways/motorways the whole way there. Halfway along the drive is where I work, so I drive half the way regularly. Anyway, sorry for ranting. That really veered off topic.

Audiobooks. Yeah, I think the narration really makes it. And I hate to tell you but your maths is wrong. If you actually paid that, they cheated you of $1.20. But I'm hoping you just miscalculated, rather than get ripped off :S

They're making a movie of 'Jellicoe Road'! They haven't started filming yet, but I was reading Marchetta's blog, and they were scouting out filming places for it. It looks like it's going to be great. Better get my hands on a copy before everyone's reading it. I kind of like to be on the bandwagon before everyone else starts piling on :P

Marvel's kind of turned me off Bitterblue (she told me about Fire's appearance), but I'll at least read Fire. Somewhere in the near future. Maybe. There're so many other books to read! Except, that doesn't really work seeing as I'm rereading HP. Shush. You know you want to, too. :P(less)
Nov 09, 2012 12:39am

Elise Haha! Well, essays are my specialty ;) And that's ok haha...I do that all the time! So hopeless...*sigh*. I guess I will have to accept your 'profuse'...more Haha! Well, essays are my specialty ;) And that's ok haha...I do that all the time! So hopeless...*sigh*. I guess I will have to accept your 'profuse' apology then. :P

Yeah definitely!! I'm sure it will be quite challenging, and from what I've heard from Christian friends who have studied psych, a lot of the basis of psych theory and their explanations of why human nature is the way it is explained by evolution and stuff...but I've always loved a challenge! But definitely want to have that foundation so I can defend my faith in a non-"bible bashing" way. But so true! GAH, can't wait to go to uni now!! ;) And your going next year!!! HOW EXCITING! :D Wollongong is such a great uni - they have a really great Christian union down there, and such a supportive place! They're so keen for getting people in...they've been the only uni that has been any help for me! Other uni's that shall remain nameless...(COUGH...SYDNEY...COUGH)...who claim to have all these different pathways for students who have suffered significant difficulty through school and haven't achieved an atar in reality when you contact them just say NO. So bad! But WOllongong have been awesome! I'm going down there with Mum to see the Dean of Admissions on Thursday...quite excited/nervouos! :)

And as for driving down, I reckon (and mum agrees), that you'll be fine driving from home! Especially if you make the most of it, and do all your study while your down there (so like leave early in the morning and study in the library between lectures and tutes. And it would be no different from going to USYD or UNSW...so yeah. See how you go would be the best option! If you decide part way through the year that it's getting too hard, then you can always reconsider. :) Haha, that's ok, you know how much I love to rant myself! :P

HAHAHA...yes, I thought you did! It's a very masculine thing to do, painting your nails :P HEY, have you died your hair GREEN? I don't know if it's just the photo or my eyes...but I swear, you hair in your goodreads profile pic looks slightly green!!! :D

Haha audiobooks...love love love. Listening to Lord of the RIngs...think I told you that. Haha yeah, Maths has never been my strongpoint...You read LOTR for extension right? I am really enjoying it...but it's so LOOOOONG!! Seriously, 200 pages just to get out of the shire, another 100 to finally get to Rivendell...and only half the book!!! UGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! -_-
OALERUAVSNL EFKJASADLFVNASDJFVNASLDFVNASKLNVALSDFV REALLY???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That...is...AWESOME!!! Ohmygoodness...you have made my night with that revelation! Research time!! Haha, yes yes get on the bandwagon!! ;) Sooooooo good! :)

Yeah, Bitterblue really disappointed me to be honest. It started out with promise, but just dragged, and then suddenly ended without any real conclusion. I hate that in books -_- Especially when they are 500+ pages (you'd think that would be enough!! But evidently not... -.- Elise does not approve! :P) But read Fire!! Still my favourite in the trilogy! Haha...I know!! I went a bit crazy and borrowed...13 books from the school library on wednesday :D: LOTR 1-3, The Knife of Never Letting Go, Miss Peregrins Home for Peculiar Children, Matthew Reilly's new book - Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, Water for Elephants, The Historian, The Alchemist, The Name of the Wind, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Fiftieth Gate aaaaand...something...oh yes, The Thirteenth Tale. And I forgot a few essentials, so I'll have to get mum to borrow some more. So I have my summer reading planned ;) Loving this no school thing! :P HEY, How are you enjoying your freedom? :) Rereading HP ;) Your right, I so do! But, to quote your wise words: "there are so many other books to read!" :P

Haha, so another essay! ;)(less)
updated Nov 10, 2012 12:56am

Sep 16, 2012 Tez rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In 1999, we watched the film adaptation of Puberty Blues on VHS (taped off the telly?) in Year 7 Health. I wagged a lot that year, and my recall is atrocious in general, so all I remember of the film is girls cheating during an exam by having notes written on their legs, above the knee. And the theme song. My word, I can remember the theme song, and it is awful. Very high-pitched. "Pu-ber-ty blues / You and me / Against the world..." And it ended on a painfully high note: "Pu-ber-ty bluuuuuuuuue...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Le koala Lit rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Les années 70, Sydney – Debbie et Sue ont 13 ans et sont inséparables. Leur but ultime est de se faire accepter par le gang hyper cool des Greenhills, les élèves les plus populaires du collège.

« Sue et moi voulions appartenir au gang des Greenhills. Elles étaient exceptionnelles – les filles les plus jolies et les plus cool de l’école et les meilleures surfeuses de la plage. Bronzées et blondes, on les remarquait dans la cour de l’école. Les filles étaient minces, épilées, sans soucis, et fémini...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Anna rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First of all I'd like to point out I am an Australian, and no we don't actually talk like that, even the teenagers of that generations. The books is a gross exaggeration on all accounts, culture and hyper sexuality.

I was disappointed at how much I had to pay on Kindle for a book that took me just over an hour to read. Don't be misled by the new tv series, the two are nothing alike. The recent Australian TV series is whimsical and innocent and features older main characters dabbling in the ways o...more First of all I'd like to point out I am an Australian, and no we don't actually talk like that, even the teenagers of that generations. The books is a gross exaggeration on all accounts, culture and hyper sexuality.

I was disappointed at how much I had to pay on Kindle for a book that took me just over an hour to read. Don't be misled by the new tv series, the two are nothing alike. The recent Australian TV series is whimsical and innocent and features older main characters dabbling in the ways of teenagehood. The book however is very raw, it's about two 13 year old girls, one who is still physically a child, who spend all their time trying to get into a surfie gang where they are basically servile to the boys, especially sexually. The main character Debbie in her relationship with Bruce, borders on paedophilia, he is a man at 17 with a job, a car, and the biggest penis in the gang. She is 13, just out of Primary School, has a flat chested child's body and hasn't had her period yet. Their continual problem is that he is too big for them to have sex though he does manage to get it in her bum once.

The main themes of the book are girls being completely and utterly servile to boys, doing their bidding and looking pretty. The entire books is underage sex, drinking and drug taking. It promotes not eating (especially in front of boys) to maintain a skinny frame, and countless other hyper exaggerated scenarios. If a young person picked up this booking expecting to learn from it, and expecting a realistic take on their pubescent years, then this isn't it. Actually some might find it scary.

The language is needlessly annoying, replacing 'nerd' with 'nurd' is just unnecessary, and after a while the endless over stylised speech becomes grating, and isn't a fair reflection of Australian teenagers at the time.

I came to this book expecting to love it, but instead I came away hating it. I have lost respect for the writers. This should not be considered a YA novel, if anything it should be sold as an adult book. I am no prude, and I was open to the fact that there would be drinking, drugs and sex, but the way it is portrayed in this book is just wrong, and if this is even a glimpse into the author's lives then I feel very, very sorry for them and their brutalised innocence.
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Aug 27, 2012 wild colonial girl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Get lost, ya moll! Puberty Blues hits TV
(from my blog, Wild Colonial Girl, at http://wildcolonialgirl.wordpress.com...)

I’m in a bedroom. I’m 10 years old (give or take). There’s a group of us girls. I’m the youngest. The others are family and friends. They’re handing around a book carefully, gingerly, as if it has germs. But they’re reading it hungrily. I’m at the end of the line, keen to see what’s inside. One of the girls (who I don’t know), says: She can’t have it, she’s too young. But I’m f...more Get lost, ya moll! Puberty Blues hits TV
(from my blog, Wild Colonial Girl, at http://wildcolonialgirl.wordpress.com...)

I’m in a bedroom. I’m 10 years old (give or take). There’s a group of us girls. I’m the youngest. The others are family and friends. They’re handing around a book carefully, gingerly, as if it has germs. But they’re reading it hungrily. I’m at the end of the line, keen to see what’s inside. One of the girls (who I don’t know), says: She can’t have it, she’s too young. But I’m family (through the stepkid line). My wonderful 14-year-old rel says, Don’t worry, she’s alright. I get the nod of approval. I feel so honoured. I’m in the in-crowd. I’m handed the copy of Puberty Blues.

At the time it hits me like a tonne of bricks. The language. The brutality of the boys (and girls). The fights with fists. The relentless talk of and desire for sex (even when it seems painful and pointless). The need to conform at any cost. I am seduced and repelled by it. I want to escape this kind of world. I don’t want to go to high school. I escape in a sense (to a girls’ boarding school) for a few years. When I meet boys in their early teens, they may not be surfies but things haven’t moved on (we’re in the 80s now). They communicate with their tongues and their insults. I struggle to remain visible. I want to burst out. My brain’s in here, I want to cry. Can we talk? There’s one boy. I use the word impersonate. He looks at me, dumbstruck. He hops on his BMX and rides off. I decide to keep words to less than two syllables from then on. It’s a habit (dumbing down) that I’ve struggled to overcome ever since.

Years later, and I’m writing my first novel. It has a strong and lively character in the name of Layla. Hers is a voice I inhabit easily. She’s 14 years old. She struts across the page and, as she swans, I remember this earlier, unforgettable voice, from Puberty Blues, and how it has formed and shaped me. Layla goes to school in Western Sydney. She is obsessed with boys. She is desperate to please. She inhabits Facebook and watches video on her mobile, but she’s essentially the same as those girls, the ‘molls’ living on Sydney’s shire fringe.

I remember the first film version as being true to the book, but perhaps too much so, a flat narrative that failed to penetrate the landscape. The new version, now screening on TEN, is a series, offering time for some character development and in particular a deeper analysis of the parents and where they fit in. I don’t remember the parents in the book. Perhaps I tossed those pages aside at the time, eager just to get to the good bits. But like all great narratives, Puberty Blues charts more than the lives of the teenagers (and the series explores this beautifully). It inhabits a decade where everything seems possible, where society is undergoing rapid change, where immigration is starting to have an impact (on the ‘white’ cultural values in Cronulla) and where feminism is starting to mean changes for some women (see Susie Porter and Dan Wyllie let it all hang out as The Knights) while leaving others behind.

Glendyn Ivin directed one of the most evocative short films I’ve seen, Cracker Bag (which went on to win the top prize for shorts at Cannes), and his first feature, Last Ride, was a wonderful exploration of childhood in peril (see my RealTime review). He seems to have been the perfect choice as director to launch this ripe mix of teen angst and 70s culture. And unlike Channel 9′s Howzat, this isn’t just an exercise in nostalgia, a chance to wear funny moustaches and parade around in harry high pants, but a serious take on where we’ve come from and where we’re at.http://wildcolonialgirl.wordpress....(less)

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Jul 11, 2012 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first read this book when I was a young teenager and I remember it being a huge book, a big story and the thing I took away from it was the drugs rather than the sex... not sure why that was, maybe more freaked out by heroin that boys. I also read Christiana F and another diary-type book about heroin addiction around the same time, add in a dose of AIDS related propaganda advertising and I was NEVER going to be a smackie!! I think rereading this as an adult (without children), it almost a memo...more

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Kira Hanson Would be interested to hear what you thought, this was my era, pathetic as it was lol. Not what I'd call a well written book but many seem to relate t...more
Jul 11, 2012 01:52am

Julia Kira wrote: "Would be interested to hear what you thought, this was my era, pathetic as it was lol. Not what I'd call a well written book but many see...more
Jul 11, 2012 05:15pm

Kira Hanson Very poignant Julia...well said!
Jul 15, 2012 08:10pm

Feb 09, 2012 Mark Abbott rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have read this book twice, firstly when it came out and thirty years later.

I should point out when it came out it was regarded as the book that blew a lot of late seventies taboo's out of the water. This book shocked people in the Shire.

I also remember thinking of Lette's association with Cronulla when she was in fact from the less desirable Sylvania Heights (local knowledge here.) The book is written from the perspective that she was in THE group in Cronulla, in truth at this time Cronulla w...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Melissa (Book Nerd Reviews) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was a big fan of the Puberty Blues TV show that was shown on Channel 10 last year. I absolutely loved this story, set in the 70's of Debbie and Sue and all the trouble they got up to. Ultimately it's a coming of age story, and even though it was written in 1979, it's still every bit as relevant today as it was back then.

For Debbie and Sue, they're two 13 year olds who are just trying to get in with the popular kids, who are surfies. They hang out at the beach, the girls watch their boyfriends...more I was a big fan of the Puberty Blues TV show that was shown on Channel 10 last year. I absolutely loved this story, set in the 70's of Debbie and Sue and all the trouble they got up to. Ultimately it's a coming of age story, and even though it was written in 1979, it's still every bit as relevant today as it was back then.

For Debbie and Sue, they're two 13 year olds who are just trying to get in with the popular kids, who are surfies. They hang out at the beach, the girls watch their boyfriends surf all day. And by night, they are experimenting. With cigarettes, with drugs and alcohol, and with sex. This certainly isn't a fluffy story about all the perks of being a teenager. It's gritty, it has a strong element of truth to it, and it highlights the danger of what can happen when you fall in with the wrong crowd.

For me, the only thing preventing me from giving it 5 stars is simply some of the dialogue. Whilst I truly enjoyed this as an Aussie myself, I couldn't help but wonder how (or even if) it would translate to a wider audience, especially internationally. Let me for a moment, become a translator and I will demonstrate *ahem*:

Rooly = Really
Slackass molls = Skanks
Perf = Perfect
K'niver = Can I have a....
Unrool = Unreal (ie awesome)
Go around wif = To be someone's boyfriend/girlfriend
Titted off = To make out with someone

Point made? Yep. And look, after watching the TV show version of this, I really liked the clever way they incorporated a lot of this into the show, and perhaps after watching it, I even found it easier to read this type of dialogue because I could visualise it all playing out in my mind. But conscious of a bigger crowd as I said. People might get it - they might not.

Disclaimer = Aussies actually don't talk like this. Maybe in the 70's. But not now. Just FYI in case you thought we were an even stranger bunch. :P

What is a pretty short book (you can read this in one sitting), it ends up getting quite heavy with themes of sex, abortion and drugs (including heroin use). I am no prude, but again, an FYI to those thinking of reading this.

A really enjoyable Aussie classic. I have been wanting to read this for many years, and I am glad I finally took the time to do it. I'd highly recommend this to Aussies, but not sure about internationally (you tell me... if you live outside Australia and you've read this, did you like it?).(less)

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Oct 28, 2012 Birgit rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read the book when it was first published and I was a young girl. I enjoyed it then, it was a different world to what I was living in and I did and didn't want to be part of it. The tv series was excellent, looked forward to it every week and am really glad they are making a series 2. I wanted to read the book again to see how different it was to the tv show and how i felt about it reading it as a mum. First off it was so badly written, I read it in a day because I really couldn't have taken...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Jacqui Noorbergen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am really loving the series on channel ten, Australian tv. I like to know what will happen next so I always read the reviews, however since this is a new show there were none except people discussing the book. I bought the book on itunes and read it basically in one sitting. Wow!! I really understand myself now. Refering to anyone who lived more than across the road from the beach 'a westy' amongst other colourful language ideas. I loved the book to look back on my own childhood - which was 80...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Heidi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: aus-women-list, aus-women-2012, fiction, fiction-australian, fiction-young-adult

Deservedly or otherwise, Puberty Blues is a classic of Australian writing. In some cases it's known because it's notorious - for its portrayal of sex, of gender relationships in a particular place and time, for lifting the lid on gender inequalities and gendered behaviours in the southern beachside suburbs of Sydney in the 1970s.

It's the sort of book that many of my peers read in high school, much closer to the age of the protagonists Debbie and Sue than I am. However, I'm really glad that I did...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir, young-adult, re-read, classroom-library

I first bought and read this when I was traveling abroad in Australia. At that point in time I found that having this backstory enriched my traveling experience, as I surfed at some of the beaches along Sydney's coast.

Finding Pubery Blues again in one of my boxes of books, I recently reread it, and just put it into my classroom library--with some hesitation.

When I booktalked this title to my students, I recommended it to students who really liked Go Ask Alice, though it is a little bit tamer in...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Renee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This only took me an hour to read, if that. I liked it, wait... scrap that...I loved it!
I've seen the TV show and the girls are a couple of years older. Debbie and Sue are round about 15, but in the book 13yrs old. What I couldn't believe was 13 year olds going out... drinking, getting stoned and having sex. Come on...13! a bit too young.

Us aussie girls don't all act like that, but nowdays, some still do and its getting down to 12yr olds when they should be in bed asleep! Most teenages go out,...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Alexandra Daw rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Yes, it's been the week of sex or smutty books in the Daw household. I finally watched the new series of Puberty Blues on DVD from the library. Hooray!! It is just the best television I have watched in ages....sooooo good (said in suitably teenage drawl). So I had to read the book. It's a snap - you can read it in two hours. It's only 100 pages or so. I liked the TV series better I have to say. Powerful stuff.

The book is written for adults but has become over the years a bit of a - what would y...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Sonja rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-book

this book was just ... okay. the language is kind of hilarious, and even though i grew up 20 years after this story is set, i could still relate to a lot of the stuff going on. it's all very australian! it's also only a very short book so if you're feeling curious about surfie culture in the 70s, give it a go. just don't expect too much. :p

there wasn't really that much of a storyline and (view spoiler)...more

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Apr 07, 2009 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, fiction, sbc-09, audio-book

A sort of comming of age novel set in Cronulla in the 1970s.

What first got me about the book was the two forwards - one by an ex Australian sopie star come pop star and the other a aging Australian feminist author, neither whom really fit the bill of what I expected this book to be - not that i had expected much, I don't recal every hearing about it and it was definately never required reading in school (understandably). I would be surprised if this book was never a "banned book", but asume the...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Lilli rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: australian teens

Recommended to Lilli by: the tv show...

Shelves: different-era, female-writers, aussie-authors, biography-nonfiction

wow. now i see why the forewords from Kylie Minogue and Germaine Greer talked about it's realism. It was so realistic is scared me and made me crave for more of their lives. I'm seriously shell-shocked because i never thought it would be as raw as it was. I felt terrible for the girls of this decade and wanted to "smash" the guys they had to deal with (or better yet who they let deal with them). the ending was both shocking and satisfying for me because finally i felt like the girls had got some...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Susan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think this would be an interesting book if you were 13, loved reading Dolly magazines, and wanted to read it for shock value. It's just so badly written that I couldn't get into it, even though it's only 100 odd pages long. It really feels more like a cautionary tale than a novella. The characters need fleshing out because you feel nothing for them. There are inconsistencies in it that got on my nerves, too. Like, if 'skininess is ininess' then why are they girls always eating cream buns and w...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Art rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sex never sounded less appealing. Puberty Blues is unstructured, essentially non-fiction and more like a diary than a novel. It's an awkward, straight re-telling of the authors' upbringing in Sydney's infamous "Shire". Puberty has always interested me; it's when our emotions are at their most tender and intense, and we begin to dabble in the things that will later become our excesses. Boys, girls, drugs, music, heartbreak - toes dipped in lakes. I've explored it on my own albums Macquarie Centre...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Marj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Puberty Blues to me is the seminal adolescent coming of age novel that will always be interlaced with my own experience. To be honest, this feels partly like the adolescence I'm familiar with, but only partly! We hung out at the beach when we could (South Steyne, not Cronulla), escaped panel vans more than spending time in them, and bonfire parties on the dunes ended with us going home afterwards.

I've been interested to follow the lives of these authors as they went their separate ways, and it'...more

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Aug 27, 2012 emslibbooks rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: australian_fiction, belonging, choices, autobiography, class_structure, friendship, ms_bognar, fiction, surfing, school, love, humour, young_adult, teachers

Some things have changed. Hopefully girls are stronger and able to tell boys what they want eg surf, not have sex. But maybe I don't know. The chill factor is that these girls are around 13 and most are virgins who really don't know what they are involved in. Most shattering is the end of the book. Tis was the start of drug times, hard drugs. Maybe it's not really for teens, but maybe teens can learn from it. The language is very much of its time and I would imagine that overseas readers would h...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Deanna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bought-2012, ebook, read-2012, reviewed, aussie-aussie-aussie-oi-oi-oi

Puberty Blues is such an Aussie classic, I can't believe it's taken me this long to read it. There are a couple of women in my classes that read this when it first came out, and it was so cool to see the way they talked about it and the effect it had on teenagers back then.

I'm not gonna lie, the only reason I bought this ebook was because of the TV version of Puberty Blues that was showing at the time. I loved the show and I loved the characters, so I thought, why not read the book?

It's not perf...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Jodie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While impatiently waiting for the next TV series episode of Puberty Blues I decided to read the book. I never enjoy a movie or TV series more than a book but I'm finding the TV series far more compelling in this case. The book lacked character insight. I wanted to know more about their personalities and home lives. How did their parents not know or care that their thirteen year olds were in these situations?
It also finished too quickly for me. I wanted MORE!!!

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