Withering Tights (Misadventures of Tallulah Casey, #1)

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Withering Tights (Misadventures of Tallulah Casey #1)

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 2,837 ratings · 534 reviews

Hilarious new series from Queen of Teen – laugh your tights off at the (VERY) amateur dramatic antics of Talullah and her bonkers mates. Boys, snogging and bad acting guaranteed!

Picture the scene: Dother Hall performing arts college somewhere Up North, surrounded by rolling dales, bearded cheesemaking villagers (male and female) and wildlife of the squirrely-type. On the w...more

Hardcover, 351 pages

Published July 8th 2011 by HarperTeen (first published July 8th 2010)

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May 12, 2012 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those who want to partake in more hilariosity and can relate to corker problems

Shelves: 2010, ya, series-in-progress-still-like, b, 2012, chick-lit

As seen on The Readventurer

A new series from Louise Rennison and, thank vati, it does not disappoint.

Talullah Casey is Georgia Nicolson's 14.5-year old cousin and an aspiring performer. She is lucky to have been accepted to a performing arts college Dother Hall for for the summer semester. Here she acquires new (mad) mates and surrenders herself to the wonders of theatre. What is disappointing though is that, it turns out, Dother Hall is an all-girl school. How are girls supposed to enhance thei...more As seen on The Readventurer

A new series from Louise Rennison and, thank vati, it does not disappoint.

Talullah Casey is Georgia Nicolson's 14.5-year old cousin and an aspiring performer. She is lucky to have been accepted to a performing arts college Dother Hall for for the summer semester. Here she acquires new (mad) mates and surrenders herself to the wonders of theatre. What is disappointing though is that, it turns out, Dother Hall is an all-girl school. How are girls supposed to enhance their love lives if there are no lads around? Will their sexual experiences remain limited to: getting her bottom felt at a bus stop (Tallulah); having her bra undone through a T-shirt by an unknown guy who ran right away on a bike (Jo); having her cousin put an ice cube down the front of her T-shirt and then offer to get it out for her (Vaisey); watching a boy wear her freshly-washed pants on his head (Flossie)? Luckily, some boy-toys emerge - there are Phil and Charlie, who were shipped to the nearby Woolfe Academy to be taught how to become decent citizens, a local emo boy-band headed by a very-very bad cad appropriately named Cain, then there is an "older man" Alex, the list goes on... Let the summer of theatre and love begin!

I thoroughly enjoyed this romp. It might not be quite as hilarious as Georgia's books, but it still gave me a lot of laughs. Tallulah is much less flamboyant than her cousin, shier and more subdued, but has her moments. The mates are weird and funny, the lads are vair attractive but hard to understand, as usual.

On the negative side, the ending is very open. There is hardly any resolution to any love drama. And secondly, Withering Tights is pretty much the same thing as Georgia's diaries. The setting and the players are different, but the plot is the same - boy troubles, lippies, body insecurities (non-existent corkers a.k.a nungas and knobbly knees - compare to Georgia's nose misfortunes), mad mates, and snogging experiences. But I won't complain, I love this stuff and I am ready to read about these adventures once again. And the theatre bits are a hoot too. I've always known artistic people were crazy, here is another confirmation.

Withering Tights is a great, very light, funny read. I am looking forward to the next book in this series. Have one request for Rennison though - can we get an update on Georgia/Dave relationship? After all, Lullah is G's cousin, she should know what's what, right?

Night Owl Reviews(less)

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Aug 19, 2010 Crystal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

Let me start by saying that I think this new series has great promise. That being said I wasn't as impressed with the first installment as I had hoped to be. The story centers around Tallulah, a 14 year old girl and Georgia's cousin, who is attending an art school for a semester. Of course hilariousity strange wisdomosity follows Tallulah and her new Tree Sisters and their adventures with boys. The reason why I am giving this only 3.5 is because even though I found the story entertaining I felt...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Lisa added it

Cover: 5/5

Looking at this cover, I couldn't help but smile. It's so cute! The stocking textured background, the baby owl, and the legs wearing pink and black stockings.

I love covers like this. Every element in this picture actually has something to do with the story itself. I hate when I finish reading a book, and still have no clue how the cover ties in. Looking at the cover you could guess what the story actually may be about!

Characters-

Favorite:

Every single character in Withering Tights...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mid-grade-on-up-reads

This book is utterly hilarious, beyond even the Georgia Nicolson series. It has a lot of British humor and references in it that can't even be explained by the directory in the back, however, so it may be challenging for the average American teen. It pokes fun at so much, especially at the awkwardness of growing up. Also at the small theatre, where people take themselves far too seriously (I've been there and backed carefully out). Tallulah is Georgia's very innocent cousin, and there is even a...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: humor, romance, young-adult, school-story

Fourteen year old Tallulah is going to theater summer school in a small town in Yorkshire, and is staying with a family in the tiny village nearby (a rope-skipping competition to see if they can get the whole village skipping with one rope is prime entertainment). Although the school is all girls, there's a boys school nearby, as well as several unexpectedly gorgeous local hunks. If Tallulah can ever grow into her impossibly long legs and perhaps grow a little in the chest area, will she finally...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Chrissy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: beehive-long-list-2013, chick-lit, young-adult-fiction, realistic-fiction

Generally speaking, teenage drama takes itself waaaay too seriously. I'm talking about the kind of stuff that keeps ABC Family and The CW in business. It's the sort of thing that makes me want to stab my eyes out with a bamboo shoot, quite honestly (seriously, girls - it's not the end of the world that the boy you like didn't ask you out and you don't need to plot terrible revenge on the girl he did ask out). However, Louise Rennison has a great knack for taking something so horrendous and heino...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Doris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This irreverent tale of a youngster struggling to define her place in life is amusing, and true to life. Tallulah is the star, and she comes to Yorkshire as a loner, part of a strange family she rarely sees. She immediately makes friends, and with her own eccentric sense of humor makes a place for herself in the 'college' of performing arts.

She is segregated from her classmates due to a lack of enough beds, but still manages to spend much of her time visiting, mingling and giggling over boys. T...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Gaby rated it 4 of 5 stars

THIS WAS ME THE WHOLE FREAKING TIME:

Read my full review here: http://youngadultbookmuncher.wordpres...

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Aug 20, 2012 Book Angel Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

REVIEW BY VIV - SERENDIPITY REVIEWS

This is the first book I ‘ve read by Louise Rennison but I can assure you it won’t be my last. If I had realised just how witty her writing was I would have devoured all her books in a week! Seriously, some of the lines the author comes out with had me snorting my tea.

This is told in first person, through the eyes of Tallulah, whose cousin just happens to be Georgia Nicholson, who can blow on her nails and shine them on her T shirt as she is already established...more REVIEW BY VIV - SERENDIPITY REVIEWS

This is the first book I ‘ve read by Louise Rennison but I can assure you it won’t be my last. If I had realised just how witty her writing was I would have devoured all her books in a week! Seriously, some of the lines the author comes out with had me snorting my tea.

This is told in first person, through the eyes of Tallulah, whose cousin just happens to be Georgia Nicholson, who can blow on her nails and shine them on her T shirt as she is already established as a starlet in the book world. However, Tallulah, is quickly following her into stardom and may just outshine her in her bid to be famous.

The characters are larger than life and reminiscent of St Trinian’s only set in the acting world. The best way to describe most of them would be to say they were nuts and more some!

Tallulah really stands out, she almost sparkles on the page, as she tries desperately to discover her hidden talents. As a reader, you will have already guessed she is a comedian at heart but it takes Tallulah a little longer to discover this. She really knows how to make herself look stupid, especially in front of the boys she is trying to impress. One of my favourite characters was Ruby; she was so much older than her age and often the voice of reason.

This book is loosely based on Wuthering Heights. Tallulah has to perform in the school play as Heathcliff which she bases on a certain bad boy with hilarity and originality. The Bronte’s are mentioned on various occasions, as well as the Kate Bush song that catapulted the book into modern interpretation.

I have read Wuthering Heights and I have to say I really enjoyed this better. Wuthering Heights had me hitting myself over the head with a mallet as it was the most depressing book I had ever read, whereas this just entertained me all the way through.

My only little complaint is certain things that Tallulah said, felt a bit out of character and not appropriate for her voice. She kept talking about her ‘corkers’ which although was really funny, I couldn’t ever see a teenager using this word to describe her female assets.

An excellent read, funny through and quickly devoured.(less)

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Jun 07, 2012 Vikki VanSickle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade, ya

There are very few books that make me laugh out loud in public. Louise Rennison’s books are among that small group (which also includes Bossypants, Alice, I Think, The Spellman Files, and Clementine). In the brilliantly titled Withering Tights, Rennison introduces us to a new heroine, a cousin of Georgia’s named Tallulah Casey.

Rennison has a lot of fun at the expense of the Wuthering Heights/romanticism of the moors trope as well as the liberal performing arts school. Having some experience with...more There are very few books that make me laugh out loud in public. Louise Rennison’s books are among that small group (which also includes Bossypants, Alice, I Think, The Spellman Files, and Clementine). In the brilliantly titled Withering Tights, Rennison introduces us to a new heroine, a cousin of Georgia’s named Tallulah Casey.

Rennison has a lot of fun at the expense of the Wuthering Heights/romanticism of the moors trope as well as the liberal performing arts school. Having some experience with the performing arts and the delightful quirky people the discipline attratcs, I fully appreciated her depiction of ridiculous classes and life at kooky Dother Hall. For a final project, the girls are asked to do an original production of Wuthering Heights. It is in this production, as an especially moody, step-dancing caricature of a tortured Heathcliff that Tallulah finally comes into her own.*

One of the things I love best about Louise Rennison is how her details snowball and transform. Instead of using the same descriptions over and over again, the original description tends to morph into something more and more hilarious. For example, when Tallulah sees the room in which she will be boarding for the summer, she comments on how the entire room is made of wood: “Even the bed-head has got furry things carved into it. Squirrels, I think. Or maybe hairy, long-tailed slugs.” Next we hear of it, the bedroom is now referred to as the Squirrel Room, and the image builds from there, becoming funnier with each reference. Tallulah’s legs, though the bane of her existence, are also source of frequent hilarity.

If I haven’t made it clear enough already, I LOVE Tallulah. She is smart and funny, but like all teens, pre-occupied with the injustices of adolescence. For Tallulah, this includes her knobby knees, a lack of obvious talent, and conflicting feelings regarding some unpredictable boys. Her first person narrative is classic Rennison- deadpan, neurotic, hilarious. To a North American reader, sometimes the language in Rennison’s books can feel completely foreign. There is a very tongue-in-cheek glossary in the back to define the unique mix of British slang, theatrical terms, and words that Tallulah herself has created.

This is a great read for girls eleven and up. They’ll be having such a good time laughing at Tallulah and friends romping around the moors and sneaking out on a disastrous group date to the movies, they may not even realize the little kernels of wisdom Rennison has written in about friendship, body image, independence, and how to stand up to smarmy boys. Please, please do yourself the favour of treating yourself and any girl you know to this comedic gem.(less)

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Oct 21, 2011 Rose Hillbrand rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Teenage girls

I ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would when I first started (probably because I had just read The Sex Lives of Cannibals, which was the funniest book ever, so this one seemed kind of lame and silly after that). But I stand by my first assessment, which was that reading this book was like chasing a 2-year-old around - fun for a few minutes, but quickly very tiring.

However, I did get more into it as the book went on. I felt the ending was very sudden and abrupt, and felt lik...more I ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would when I first started (probably because I had just read The Sex Lives of Cannibals, which was the funniest book ever, so this one seemed kind of lame and silly after that). But I stand by my first assessment, which was that reading this book was like chasing a 2-year-old around - fun for a few minutes, but quickly very tiring.

However, I did get more into it as the book went on. I felt the ending was very sudden and abrupt, and felt like a setup for a sequel - it was just kind of random. But then again, the whole book really was, so I guess that might make sense....

There were definitely some parts that were LOL-funny, although that one boy always creeped me out - he seemed very evil, and when he was holding the baby owl I thought he was going to kill it!

Overall though, I think the main word I would choose to describe this book is "confusing." And I don't mean all the British slang, which was funny and even if you didn't "read the glossary first," most of it you could figure out by context. The writing jumped all over the place, which didn't help, but there were several main things that confused me:

1. The school system - mainly the use of the word "college" for a summer program, when she was only 14. However, this I will let slide, since I am not that familiar (or at all familiar) with the British school system, and I know it is quite different from here.

2. What in the world she was doing at an art school anyway?? Not only did she seem to have NO talent (other than perhaps as a comedian - do you go to art school for that??), but she didn't seem interested in anything either! It wasn't like, oh I love painting so I want to try this art program out, even though I suck at it. She didn't really seem to be interested in any form of art at all, so I didn't understand really why she was even there (other than to chase boys, which you can really do at any college). :-)

3. Last but not least, what the heck was up with the creepy "toddlers"??! At first I thought I had read it wrong, and that they were 5 or 6, but as the book went on, it was obvious they could not talk very well - so they did sound like toddlers, although I'm not sure if it ever said how old they actually were. However, when I went back to see why I had thought they were older, I realized it was because she said they had a loose tooth. Or actually, she said they had NO teeth - except for a loose one. What??! Is this a British thing too, with the little kids having no teeth?? I am so confused! This was very weird for me.

Overall it was a fun book, but I'm not sure I would want to read another one of her books. Reading it made my brain stressed.(less)

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Oct 18, 2011 Meghan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Fourteen-year-old Tallulah goes to an arts college over the summer to get out of camping with her little brother. When she gets there, she discovers that she really enjoys the atmosphere, the friends she's made, the boys she's met, and even performing (just a little bit). She doesn't want to leave. Due to her clumsiness and lack of talent, Tallulah fears that she will get cut from the program and will not be invited back in the fall to continue her arts education.

The story is lighthearted and is...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Awkward at times (though she would attribute this to her too-long legs), Tallulah is still as spunky, cute, and funny as her cousin Georgia, the main character of Rennison’s first and well-known series, the Confessions of Georgia Nicholson.Written novel-style rather than in the diary entries of the earlier series, I failed to find this book as enjoyable as I had Rennison’s others, but liked it nonetheless. I came to love each of the characters in his or her own way, especially the gangly main ch...more

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Sep 01, 2011 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

It is hard for me to decide what I think about this book. On its own it was a pretty funny story and an entertaining read. OK, but it is so similar to the Georgia Nicolson series that I was kind of disappointed. Tallulah seemed just like Georgia except she hated her knees instead of her nose and had really small boobs rather than great big ones. Many of the jokes and characters seemed the same and I felt like I was just reading another installment of Georgia.

This is not really a bad thing it ju...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Olivia rated it 3 of 5 stars

So, Louise Rennison, I honestly haven't read any of your books until this one.
:D
Which is weird, since you have a lot...........:D
I'm so weird. Ok, Withering Tights. I liked it. Spent all day reading it...well I do that with all books, but still.
The first chapter was confusing, and I didn't understand any of it. Then, soon I started to understand that there was a bunch of weird slang in it( Check: glossary in back:), and I just skipped over them, or used context clues? And the main problem I h...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Elana Hillbrand rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was vair vair funny, as Georgia would say. I liked the silliness and I liked Tallula's knees. I was really glad that I had read Wuthering Heights first and I would recommend that you read it BEFORE you read this book so you can fully appreciate the parts about it. There was a really awesome quote that I thought perfectly summed up my experience with Wuthering Heights: " Emily [Bronte] went in to her publisher and said, "I've written a book about some madman who lives on the moors. Ther...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Kavanand rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Louise Rennison is known for her Georgia Nicholson series, and the heroine of her new series is Georgia's cousin, Tallulah Casey. Tallulah is starting a summer program at a performing arts school in Yorkshire. She's a bit apprehensive about the program, but she's looking forward to a summer of new friends and many boys.

She and her fellow students are briefly disappointed on the boy front when they arrive at the school and discover that it's not coed, but they soon learn that there's a boys' scho...more

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Jun 06, 2011 Brob rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was so excited to find this book in my inbox! I didn’t even know that Louise Rennison had started a new series after the Confessions of Georgina Nicholson series. I suppose that happens when you start reading too many series at one time. I find that it is often hard to keep up with all the authors that I would like to. Anyway, I absolutely love the Georgina series and found it to be quite hilarious. This new series didn’t fail to disappoint me!

I found Talulah to be just as great of a lead char...more

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May 28, 2011 Reader rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-may-2011

When Tallulah Casey heads off to summer drama camp, she knows she'll make it on the stage. She didn't count on staying off campus in the squirrel room, and she didn't count on Cain constantly making outnwith random girls under her window, and she didn't count on the pub owner's daughter, Ruth, taking a shine to her. As the term professes, Tallulah learns just what it means to live in the Yorkshire moors, with sheep and grumpy old men everywhere. She's determined to succeed in show business, even...more

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Apr 11, 2011 Dwayne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-review, 2011-releases

Reviewed @ Girls Without a Bookshelf.

Oh dear God this book is insane. It could have easily killed me with its hilarity, and to be entirely honest it might just be the most hilarious, most ridiculous book I've ever read. I wish I read this when I was younger - I'd have loved it! Or well...it could have easily killed me then. It's just too funny!

Tallulah Casey is seriously insane. In a good way. She is a character so full of life it's hard to not be uplifted whenever I open the pages and read abou...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Shanyn (Chick Loves Lit) rated it 4 of 5 stars

I hope that when you hear Louise Rennison, you instantly think HILARIOUS (because of her Georgia Nicolson books). And if you haven't read Georgia's books, now would be a good time to do so - or you can start with her new series, which begins with Withering Tights!

Because it is equally as hysterical.

Most of the books I have been reading lately have had more serious plots and characters, so I had a lot of fun reading Withering Tights. It's set in Europe, where Talullah is attending a school of art...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-copy, childrens, humour, series, ya

Tallulah Casey - the cousin of the famous Georgia Nicolson - is off to Performing Arts College for the summer. Dother Hall is set in Wuthering Heights country, and, at first, Tallulah - call her Lullah - wonders where Boots is in the village and is dismayed at the lack of Sky at the house where she stays. As she gets to know the other girls from the course, Tallulah settles into summer school and concentrates on what she calls her 'summer of love' - she's never been snogged so far, and wants to...more Tallulah Casey - the cousin of the famous Georgia Nicolson - is off to Performing Arts College for the summer. Dother Hall is set in Wuthering Heights country, and, at first, Tallulah - call her Lullah - wonders where Boots is in the village and is dismayed at the lack of Sky at the house where she stays. As she gets to know the other girls from the course, Tallulah settles into summer school and concentrates on what she calls her 'summer of love' - she's never been snogged so far, and wants to work on it. This is the hilarious tale of Tallulah's first summer at Dother Hall, by the author of the Georgia Nicolson books.

I'll say upfront: I was sceptical. I've not read anything by Louise Rennison before. Emblazoned on this very pink cover was the words "Winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize" - as if any children's author could possibly be as funny as Mr Dahl! And then the first chapter was a bumpy ride. I saw myself becoming tired of the "humour" early on and finding the whole novel tiresome in general.

BUT.... Withering Tights TOTALLY won me over! By the end, I was absolutely head over heels for Tallulah and her friends, and I giggled out loud on a number of occasions. Make no mistake, Louise Rennison is an incredibly funny author. Her writing is entertaining and easy to read, with puns and slapstick and rather wise commentary on the nature of being a girl who has never yet been kissed.

Tallulah is a wonderful character - quirky and funny, making asides about her friends and the various people who populate the village of Heckmondwhite. I love the fact that she is concerned about her breasts ("corkers") not growing as fast as the other girls, and that her legs are way too long. The first time she is kissed she compares it to a tiny bat barging around in her month. Honestly, I *adore* her - she is so cute and lovely!

The rest of the characters in the book are just as memorable - from Cain, who swaggers around the village like a modern day Heathcliff, to Ruby, who turns out to be Tallulah's fun-sized friend.

There are two parts of Withering Tights that I love particularly. The first is that we have here a cheerful novel about growing up that doesn't involve sex or girls dressing older than their age. Tallulah is interested in boys, sure, but she's just as concerned about her fledgeling career as an artiste. She experiences her first kiss in this book. I've read a lot of YA and been concerned at the turn it has taken in terms of young girls being all to willing to go further than perhaps they should. Withering Tights has a beautiful innocence about it.

The second is that this novel takes a large helping of Wuthering Heights as its inspiration. Alright, it isn't tortured and dark and grim, but the Brontes and their novels are discussed, as is Shakespeare. These girls do not sneer at learning - they are eager to learn - and this is a message that I'm keen to see in more novels for younger readers.

Altogether, I was delighted by her refreshing and warm Withering Tights is. What I'm even more delighted by is the fact that other people suggest this might not be Louise Rennison's best work! That means I have some great reading ahead of me - the rest of her books are already on my wishlist! If you're after a giggle, definitely pick this up!

I leave you with a quote from Tallulah about what Heathcliff is all about:

The 'hero' of Wuthering Heights. Although no one knows why. He's mean, moody and possibly a bit on the pongy side. Cathy loves him though. She shows this by viciously rejecting him and marrying someone else for a laugh. Still, that is true love on the moors for you.(less)

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May 12, 2013 Judy Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars

'Withering Heights' is a very spectacular book that many teenage girls would enjoy reading. It has everything a teen would expect; romance and comedy.

PLOT
The story follows Tallulah Casey and her dreams to become a performer and have her first kiss, as she goes to an all-girls performing arts college, Dother Hall, for the summer semester. When the hopes of a romantic summer fall out of site, some bad boys come into picture, giving the story an entirely different twist. Its fun and hilarious to re...more

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Nov 08, 2011 Ree rated it 3 of 5 stars

"Withering Tights"... obviously a play on Wuthering Heights, but I don't think it's a modern retelling. I've never read Wuthering Heights, but I know a bit about it and there's no Cathy or Heathcliff in this book.

That's probably a weird way to start off my review, but it's almost a little word of warning to those expecting a modern retelling of Wuthering Heights... this is not it. That's not to mean that it's a bad book, of course! I would really rate this 3.5 but that's not do-able on Goodreads...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Clarabel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

La bonne blague ! C'est l'histoire d'une ado de 14 ans qui débarque dans le Yorkshire pour suivre un stage de cours d'art dramatique. Le résultat est délicieusement barré, excentrique et farfelu. Au début, je ne vous cache pas que j'ai failli trouver ça lourd, et finalement j'ai complètement mordu à l'hameçon. Le ton satirique et l'exubérance de Tallulah font bon ménage, certains passages valent leur pesant de cacahuètes - la scène du premier baiser, par exemple, est un grand moment d'anthologie...more

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Aug 19, 2010 Kat rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, young-adult, read-in-2010

When I learned that Louise Rennison was writing another YA series to follow up her successful Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, my curiosity was piqued. I had read all ten books of the Georgia series over the course of two months, and they were hilarious and entertaining. Naturally I had similar expectations for this new series about Georgia's younger cousin Tallulah Casey.

Tallulah is a 14-year-old who's off to spend a summer at Dother Hall studying performing arts. She's got knobby knees and leg...more

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Jun 14, 2011 Karen Keyte rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen-girls-realistic

"He was soooo lovely. And well, gorgeous. He had everything a dream boy should have. Back, front sides. Everything. A head. And all in a boy shape." - Tallulah Casey after first meeting Alex Barraclough

Meet Tallulah, the smart, funny, slightly mad heroine of Louise Rennison's new series. The daughter of wildly unconventional (and often absent) parents, 14 1/2 year old Tallulah has signed up for a summer program at a Performing Arts College on the Yorkshire Moors. She's ready to sing, dance and u...more
"He was soooo lovely. And well, gorgeous. He had everything a dream boy should have. Back, front sides. Everything. A head. And all in a boy shape." - Tallulah Casey after first meeting Alex Barraclough

Meet Tallulah, the smart, funny, slightly mad heroine of Louise Rennison's new series. The daughter of wildly unconventional (and often absent) parents, 14 1/2 year old Tallulah has signed up for a summer program at a Performing Arts College on the Yorkshire Moors. She's ready to sing, dance and unleash her inner creative self on the unsuspecting world. Well actually, Tallulah can't sing and she's really only good at Irish step-dancing (it's well-suited to her extraordinarily long legs). She signed up for the program because she didn't want to go on an Outward Bound course with her brother. (The last time she and Connor went camping together, he cooked her a bug.) But since she's here at the college (okay, staying in the village with a family as the dorm was already filled up), Tallulah is committed to setting her artistic spirit free.

As it turns out, it looks like coming to Dother Hall might be one of Tallulah's better ideas. Staying with the Dobbins is okay, even if they are a bit on the huggy side. And Heckmondwhite is an alright village, even if it is home to the odious Cain Hinchcliffe who seems to be snogging a different girl under Tallulah's window every night. Still, the performing arts program is okay, Tallulah's made some really great friends, no one has fainted at the sight of her nobbly knees and there are boys - real, actual live boys - nearby at Woolfe Academy. Now this summer lark seems a lot more important and Tallulah suddenly wants, most desperately, to be one of the girls chosen to attend the proper school next term. It's just that she's not really sure where her true talents lie.

Louise Rennison's Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series made her a world-wide bestselling author. Now Georgia's younger cousin takes center stage and the result is equally hilarious. No one makes growing up as funny as Ms. Rennison does and a big reason her books work so well is that the humor is always based in honest, universal and sometimes painful truths about adolescence. A pure slapstick farce wouldn't be half so funny as Withering Tights. Reading Tallulah's accounts of her adventures and misadventures is like remembering your own youth - only it's more amusing and there's a bicycle ballet. All of the characters in this book, whether at Dother Hall or in the village of Heckmondwhite, are odd and quirky and thoroughly delightful but it is Tallulah who shines like the star she longs to be. She's a girl anyone can root for, even while her unintentionally comic pratfalls are producing giant belly laughs. Ms. Rennison is not reinventing the wheel here, there are similarities in style to Georgia's zany confessions, but Tallulah is very much her own person. Ms. Rennison is a genius at what she does and she brings her brilliance to the fore in Withering Tights(less)

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Feb 20, 2011 Kaisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Oh, this book is so much fun!! I'm 19, and I don't even care that it looks strange to see me reading this. IMO, this book is for people of all ages. Everyone needs to read a quick fun book from time to time. And if you agree, you should pick this up.

Louise Rennison is the author of the Georgia Nicolson books, and everyone knows how hilarious those books are. I remember reading them when I was 14 and I simply fell in love with Rennison's casual and witty way of writing.

Like in the Georgia books,...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

I had no preconceived notions at all about what this book was about. I went into it completely cold. I guess if anything, I'd assumed it was yet another YA angsty book...

I certainly had no idea that it was more of a MG book of English humor. The premise: 14.5 year old Tallulah goes off for the summer to a performance arts school in order to avoid eating butterfly sandwiches in the woods with her brother. It's the story of girls discovering boys, friendship and themselves, but Tallulah is hilari...more

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Aug 08, 2010 The Blurb Radio Show rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-up

Review by Kate Speakman

Withering Tights - Louise Rennison RRP $19.99

Withering Tights is the tale of fourteen year old Tallulah Casey’s summer. She attends summer school at Dother Hall, a school in Yorkshire for the Arts. Like Louise Rennison’s well known series “Angus Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging,” Tallulah faces the challenges of growing up and dealing with self doubt.

I found the Yorkshire slang to be confusing and hard to follow. As a book it was extremely similar to “Angus, Thongs and F...more

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About Louise Rennison

Louise Rennison is a British author and comedian most known for being the author of the best-selling Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series for teenage girls. This series records the exploits of a teenage girl, Georgia Nicolson, and her best friends, the Ace Gang. She is also a major contributor of comedy scripts. Her one-woman live show, "Stevie Wonder Felt My Face", ran in the 1990s.

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Books by Louise Rennison

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, #1)

On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, #2)

Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, #3)

Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, #4)

Away Laughing on a Fast Camel (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, #5)

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“I am soooo excited, I am over-excited. I'm hysterical, I may have to slap my own face in a minute at this rate.” — 56 people liked it

“He had everything a dream boy should have. Back, front, sides, Everything. A head.” — 17 people liked it

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Withering Tights (Misadventures of Tallulah Casey #1)

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