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Gidget (Gidget series #1)
My English comp teacher Mr. Glicksberg says if you want to be a writer you have to—quote—sit on a window sill and get all pensive and stuff and jot down descriptions. Unquote Glicksberg! I don't know what kind of things he writes but I found my inspiration in Malibu with a radio, my best girlfriends, and absolutely zillions of boys for miles. I absolutely had to write ever...more
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
June 1st 2001
by Berkley Trade
(first published October 1957)
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Aug 03, 2007
Dayna
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone that likes the old movies.
Shelves:
books-i-own
I enjoyed this book. I read it because I like the movie by the same name ... the old one with Sandra Dee. It is not by any means a great work of literature ... it is a fun and easy read though.
It is actually based on the real-life experiences of the author's daughter. She was a real surfer-girl in a time when surfing was still a sport (or more like a hobby) of male beach bums. While being based on a real person it's a fictionalized account ... but it is believable without being philisophical. L...more
It is actually based on the real-life experiences of the author's daughter. She was a real surfer-girl in a time when surfing was still a sport (or more like a hobby) of male beach bums. While being based on a real person it's a fictionalized account ... but it is believable without being philisophical. L...more
I'm amazed at how much I liked this book. The new edition's forward by Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, who was the real-life Gidget, puts the story in perspective.
Kathy Kohner was a petite (less than 5 feet tall) perky Jewish girl who became obsessed with surfing back in the days before the Beach Boys started singing about it, before most of America had even heard of the sport. Her actual photo was used on the original book cover and again on the new edition. In the novel, Gidget remains a petite brune...more
Kathy Kohner was a petite (less than 5 feet tall) perky Jewish girl who became obsessed with surfing back in the days before the Beach Boys started singing about it, before most of America had even heard of the sport. Her actual photo was used on the original book cover and again on the new edition. In the novel, Gidget remains a petite brune...more
Jul 12, 2012
Xyra
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Readers who love the ocean, surfing, and historical fiction
I have been a Gidget fan for years and only now found out there was a book based on a real person's experiences to start it all. Now I am a bigger fan!
This is one of the very few books where I read the Introduction and Forward...usually if it is by another person (not the author) and not part of the story I skip this as I have found most to be dry literary criticisms. In this case, the intro was by the real Gidget, so I just had to read it! Boy, did I ever. And it was wonderful to hear the woman...more
This is one of the very few books where I read the Introduction and Forward...usually if it is by another person (not the author) and not part of the story I skip this as I have found most to be dry literary criticisms. In this case, the intro was by the real Gidget, so I just had to read it! Boy, did I ever. And it was wonderful to hear the woman...more
When I was a kid my sister and I used to watch the TV show “Gidget” every day after school. It was sandwiched between something like “The Flintstones” and “Bewitched” on TBS or one of those cable channels that shows two-decade old reruns.
Being Minnesota teens of the 80s I can only surmise that our adoration of the show was all due to the perky charm of Sally Field. We really loved the show and when my sister got Gidget – The Complete Series on DVD for Christmas, we dove in with gusto. It’s still...more
Being Minnesota teens of the 80s I can only surmise that our adoration of the show was all due to the perky charm of Sally Field. We really loved the show and when my sister got Gidget – The Complete Series on DVD for Christmas, we dove in with gusto. It’s still...more
Good, fluffy, fun. A good sit-on-the-deck-in-the-sun read. I want to learn to surf now.
I kind of wish I had read this when I was fifteen. I would have found it fun, engaging, and not a little scandalous. Probably would have quite surprised me that my mom likes it so much. Gidget is impulsive and confident and independent, which is awesome, especially as she's based off a real person. However, she can be shockingly oblivious of the surfer guys' innuendos while at the same time being much more cur...more
I kind of wish I had read this when I was fifteen. I would have found it fun, engaging, and not a little scandalous. Probably would have quite surprised me that my mom likes it so much. Gidget is impulsive and confident and independent, which is awesome, especially as she's based off a real person. However, she can be shockingly oblivious of the surfer guys' innuendos while at the same time being much more cur...more
Having seen and enjoyed the 1959 Sandra Dee film a year or two before reading the book I came to it expecting a fun, quick read with possibly some unintentional humor due to dated references/slang. While it is certainly fun and a term or two may have illicited a smile I was surprised by how modern this read was. The subject matter is a lot more adult than one would expect.
On the back of the book is a quote from the Hartford Courant that compares it to The Catcher in the Rye and while before re...more
On the back of the book is a quote from the Hartford Courant that compares it to The Catcher in the Rye and while before re...more
From a linguistic point of view this book was very interesting; it was fun to try to figure out what she was saying in some places. Kohner does a good job of capturing the slang of the time. I also felt that the surfing scenes were very well done and conveyed why people become some obsessed. As others have mentioned it definitely is racier than the movies and TV show, and I guess that it was bothered me about it. By modern standards it still isn't that bad, but I found the fact that a father wro...more
The Little Bookworm
Franzie is a typical 16 year old girl. When she is one day rescued by a handsome surfer, Moondoggie, she decides she wants to learn how to surf. Made one of the gang by the local surfer boys who nickname her Gidget (girl-midget), she falls in love with Moondoggie and, most of all, with surfing.
Written in 1957, Gidget was written by Frederick Kohner for his daughter, Kathy. Based on her adventures with surfing, Gidget was the first book to deal with a girl learning to surf whic...more
Franzie is a typical 16 year old girl. When she is one day rescued by a handsome surfer, Moondoggie, she decides she wants to learn how to surf. Made one of the gang by the local surfer boys who nickname her Gidget (girl-midget), she falls in love with Moondoggie and, most of all, with surfing.
Written in 1957, Gidget was written by Frederick Kohner for his daughter, Kathy. Based on her adventures with surfing, Gidget was the first book to deal with a girl learning to surf whic...more
Bitchen book. I picked this up at a surf shop, it's the story of the real Gidget. Her father, a screenwriter, turned her diary into this novel in 1957. (My copy is autographed by Gidget herself who is now close to 70.) Gidget, meaning girl midget, discovered Moondoggie and The Big Kahuna and other surf bums in Malibu and spent the next three summers hanging out with them and learned to surf board ride. The tv shows came after and cleaned up Gidget quite a bit. Some say this book is what started...more
Gidget has a great sense of voice and character, and I love the heroine's transformation from shy "girl midget" to confident surfer chick. Gidget's definitely got her share (and more) of guy trouble, but the focus of the story stays on what she wants and learns about herself. The book's final pages - especially the last two lines - are really refreshing, they make this one a pleasure to come back to again and again.
(This was previously posted as a summer reading suggestion on my blog.)
(This was previously posted as a summer reading suggestion on my blog.)
I had an original paperback of this with Sandra Dee on the cover. At some point I either lost it or loaned it. So I replaced it with the later version with Deborah Walley. We met Kathy Kohner Zuckerman a couple of weeks at a car show and bought the new version. It has lots of photos of Kathy and is still a fun red. Larry was a surfer of that era, and many of the stories could have been about his own experiences. It's definitely a period piece and has a niche audience. But for those old timers in...more
Sweet and nostalgic. Frederick Kohner based his book on the real life adventures of his daughter Kathy, nicknamed Gidget by the boys at the beach. The action takes place in Malibu during the late 50’s through the early 60’s just at the time surfing was becoming popular. Although Gidget in the movies and TV show is famous, I didn’t realize that she was a real person, as were her friends Moondoggie and the great Kahoona. It’s worth reading for the "bitchen" slang alone.
I don't think it would be out of line to describe this as a west-coast girl version of Catcher in the Rye. Watching a Sandra Dee film and a Sally Field TV show would lead you to think that this book is pure bubblegum at it's core, but it's not.
I was skeptic at first, but only looking for a light easy read, so Gidget fit the bill. She surprised me by being both observant and charming.
This is one I'm adding to my collection.
I was skeptic at first, but only looking for a light easy read, so Gidget fit the bill. She surprised me by being both observant and charming.
This is one I'm adding to my collection.
THIS BOOK IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK. it's an incredibly written, fantastic journey into the inner mind of a teenage girl. It's full of love, beauty, sadness, angst, and awesomeness. Forget what came after, the franchise, the TV show, the movies, the perkiness, the crap. This is the real deal before it was spoiled by popularity. If you are now, or have ever been, a teenage girl...READ IT.
Great, quick summer read. Yes, there is a real Gidget, whose father tells her story after she allowed him access to the journal she wrote about her adventures at Malibu beach during the summer of 1957. Her voice comes through loud and clear and, though the book is more than 50 years old, the experiences and feelings of fifteen year old 'Franzie' are just as relevant today.
Alright so I own the Gidget movies, therefor I am also a fan of the book which turned out to be very different from the movie. I love both though. Something about fun in the sun & a teenagers view of life turns this book into a good read.
So good. Shocking, though: what teenage girls did and talked about in 1957. I love this character. Fast, east and entertaining read.
This was a fun little book about the original Gidget. The movies are based on this series. The narrator did remind me a bit of Holden in Catcher in the Rye like it said on the cover.
This book is so wholesome and fun to read. I picked it up and was done in a few short hours. I recommend it as a mental palate cleanser. :)
Gidget is a pretty cute teen from 1957, and Kohner spins a pretty hip, lighthearted tale about surfing, boys, summer and coming of age.
I'll be stewed, brewed, and tattooed. This one took me back to reading Nancy Drew and Donna Parker; not to mention watching Moondoggie and Gidget Watusi on the beach.
One of my favorite "coming of age" novels of all time. Cute, funny, and shocking at times, Gidget is a keeper.
I first read this when I was 10. A bit more mature than the movies and a delightful story.
Almost a little Holden Caulfield-esque...very 1950s independent, sarcastic, and cynical.
She began to write this, and her father seems to have stolen it from her.
You have seen the movies and the TV show. Now read the real story.
Here's the real story, and quite a fun fluffy read.
Not quite what I was expecting, but in a very good way.
So I just finished reading this book and it is actually really cute. I had seen a couple of the Gidget movies and actually had a "beach party" in my college apartment loosely associated with Gidget.
It was a quick read and kind of fluffy. But it is an insight into the culture of surfing when it was still a relatively small community. Gidget is a force to be reckoned with: a girl who wants to surf no matter what and a girl who falls in love and is dealing with emotions that only a teenaged girl c...more
It was a quick read and kind of fluffy. But it is an insight into the culture of surfing when it was still a relatively small community. Gidget is a force to be reckoned with: a girl who wants to surf no matter what and a girl who falls in love and is dealing with emotions that only a teenaged girl c...more
Adorable!
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Aug 04, 2009 04:08pm