by
3.57 of 5 stars
When the school year at tony Nashville Arts and Science ends, Vaughn Vance ditches her upper class friends for a summer of solitude. Content to be ... read full description

reviews

Feb 26, 2008
Tobias rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Damn good. It's a coming of age story, with multiple elements that make the story being told fresh: the structure, which very subtly in its second half revisits the themes that are seemingly taken for granted in the first; an exploration of class that's very much rooted in a specific time and place; an attention to detail (specifically, photography) and a conception of how the making of art can affect the people in an artist's life.

Also, it reminded me that I need to look at more of More...
2 comments like (2 people liked it)
May 02, 2008
Ami rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I was really thrilled with this book--it's a semi-perfect debut novel. Smart, funny, and with enough drama to keep me reading until the end. It's not a perfect book--there are tiny flaws and moments that could ring false. But for me that was kind of the best part: this is clearly a DEBUT novel, as in, there are more coming and I bet that they are going to be even better.

Featherproof Books, you are now my go-to indie press.
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Dec 07, 2007
featherproof rated it: 5 of 5 stars
At the beginning of a lonely summer, 16-year-old Vaughn Vance meets Sophie Birch, and the two forge an instant and volatile alliance at Nashville’s neglected Dragon Park. But when Vaughn takes up photography, she trains her lens on Sophie, and their bond dissolves as quickly as it came into focus. Felts keenly illuminates the pitfalls of coming of age as an artist, the slippery nature of identity, and the clash of class in the New South. This Will Go Down on Your Permanent Record is a sparkling More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jul 28, 2010
Lisa rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Because of the title, I expected This Will Go Down On Your Permanent Record to be a humorous book. I was surprised to find that it was anything but amusing. The story is the tale of Vaughn a lonely teenager from Nashville, Tennessee who gets caught up in the life of Sophie as she uses her as a model for her photography. Vaughn, who tends to be a loner in her private high school, gets drawn into a friendship with Sophie who comes from a very dysfunctional background with an implication that she h More...
Jul 13, 2009
Jessica rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I borrowed this book from my roommate while stranded at an overlong vet visit (a moribund guinea pig needed emergency resuscitation in the middle of our cat's exam, no lie), so I started in on it without having any idea about the book or author and with no particular expectations other than of killing some time.

It turns out this is a really smart, engaging coming-of-age tale. It takes place in the summer and fall of 1989, and our 16-year-old narrator has just decided to reinvent hers More...
Jul 05, 2008
vani rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I am still thinking about this book, read over a month ago. If you like taking photographs or reading about photography, read this! Also if you want to read about a small Southern town in the nineties, read this too. One of the awesome YA novels that is chiefly about young people making art (see also : Autobiography of My Dead Brother by Walter Dean Myers).
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Aug 22, 2010
Brandon rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Wish I would've written about this one closer to when I read it. It's one of those nuanced, subtle books that captures coming-of-age through the small often painful moments in this adolescent girl's life that'll remind us of moments of our own that we might say we wish we could forget, but really, we know we want to remember them forever, searing heartbreak and all. Growing up is a dirty business, but everyone's gotta do it. This book focuses on one of those complex friendships that aren't made More...
Jul 05, 2008
Miriam rated it: 4 of 5 stars
A fun and sometimes poignant story about finding yourself and what it means to be friends in high school. I have to admit that I think featherproof is a very cool new indie publisher with good taste.
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Mar 19, 2008
Amber rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Fun/heartbreaking coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old budding photographer who befriends the troubled girl-next-door and drama ensues.
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
May 17, 2009
Jill rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I liked that the author was honest about how it is to be a teenager and the drug use they encounter (at least, it was true to how I remember it) without glorifying or condemning it. She just said how it is. Otherwise, not a particularly memorable book, but worth reading. I think some teenagers would adore it, but most adults will not find any overarching truths that they haven't already discovered.

If I had been the main character's parents, I probably would have said, hey you drag More...
Oct 05, 2010
Russ rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This is pretty standard YA fare with the exception of having a somewhat unconventional time/place setting. I really liked the inclusion of all the Nashville landmarks and roads, because I totally have lovely memories of hanging out on that dragon.

Other than that, it seemed to have a great deal less cheesiness than most ya books. Even some of the best ya authors I've read like John green, e Lockhart and Joe meno have their moments of being super cheesy. This book doesn't have that, w More...
Sep 28, 2009
Sheila rated it: 2 of 5 stars
I had heard good things about local publishing company Featherproof earlier this year, so I stopped by their table at the Printer's Row Lit Fair this year, and was recommended this book. I wanted to like this book a lot more, but I honestly didn't. There's not much to the story, and I wish the author had more to say about class. Also, for a book about photography, I thought it'd be graphically more interesting to actually include photos with the text, much like Aleksandar Hemon does with his boo More...
May 02, 2008
Rachael rated it: 4 of 5 stars
From the first moment they meet at the Dragon Park, Vaughn and Sophie have a rocky friendship. It seems hard to believe they’re friends at all, considering Vaughn is quiet and thoughtful while Sophie is wild and outspoken. However, they do form a bond, although a volatile one. As Vaughn begins to take pictures of Sophie for her photography project, she feels like she’s getting to know Sophie even better. But a drunken mistake wounds their friendship, and Vaughn finds herself missing Sophie’s pre More...
Apr 07, 2009
Jeffrey rated it: 5 of 5 stars
This Should Go Do Down On Your Reading List!
You better write a darn good YA novel if you are going to invoke -- right in your title -- a key line from one of the greatest teen anthems of all time. Susannah Felts has done just that in her novel This Will Go Down On Your Permanent Record. This is a great story that vividly captures that turning point in life when you are nowhere near being "grown-up" enough to handle or even fully understand all the big stuff going on around you, b More...
Aug 14, 2009
Alexis rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Great details about friendship, photography and life in the 1990s, but the story itself didn't keep me terribly interested. I kept on waiting for more things to happen and the other shoe to drop. A fast and easy read.
Aug 02, 2011
Mark rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I liked this book. The sun came out and I read it in a comfy chair out the back with a beer. I read the whole thing in pretty much one go. I recommend it. There's nothing especially challenging or pretentious about this book, but that's its beauty. It's a unique take on the tired old coming-of-age genre: Vaughn, a Nashville teen, is ready to start a photography course when Sophie arrives in her life, wreaking havoc with her plans. The photo angle is a clever one, allowing - literally - a zoom-in More...
Feb 08, 2009
Anna Louise rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Could NOT put this book down. Started it yesterday, finished it this morning. Awesome, real, and intriguing from the first word to the last punctuation mark.
Apr 27, 2010
Marye rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I didn't get through this yet (but that's because I'm a grazer when it come to books).
Oct 31, 2011
Carolee rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Totally enjoyable, read in a couple hours, nothing much beyond the story itself.
Sep 11, 2010
Sarah rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I really liked the main character and the cover. The plot...not so much.
May 08, 2009
Phyllis marked it as to-read
set in Nashville
May 08, 2008
gwen added it
Going to be reviewed in the first installment of the Fiction Writers' Review! Stay tuned!
Dec 31, 2008
Maddelyn rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Not all books written about teenagers are for teenagers...but this one is.
Jun 22, 2008
Christy rated it: 5 of 5 stars
yep, it feels the same to be 16 and i don't want to go back
Feb 06, 2012
Karen marked it as to-read
Feb 01, 2012
Lizzylula marked it as to-read
Jan 27, 2012
Kianna marked it as to-read
Jan 27, 2012
Maria marked it as to-read
Jan 20, 2012
Amber marked it as to-read
Jan 18, 2012
Melanie marked it as to-read