Teen Cliches - Top Five That Are Actually True

Seeing as it's May and a very important (and terrible) month in most 17/18-yr-olds' lives - final exams month - I figured what better way to commemorate it than a blog post about being a teen. And by that, I mean the cliches that are not just tired cliches, but very much real life. As an 18-yr-old still in school, I can vouch for this.

So if you're writing a YA novel, and you have a whacking great big cliche, don't worry that much - so long as your mean girl has motives, desires, personality, weaknesses etc - aka she's a 3-D character - you'll be okay.

Oh, and another thing - anyone who hasn't clicked the magical 'follow' button up the top of the page, please click it - you get three wishes! (okay, I'm lying, but I really want to hit the 50 followers mark, so clicky the linky, folks).

CLICHE NO. 5 - TEEN PREGNANCY (EXPECTED OR NOT)

Some argue it's not a cliche, but rest assured, every teen TV show has done it, and quite a few books as well. Thing is, it happens. And not just to people who have a new boyfriend every night - to the braniacs who revise more than they eat.

CLICHE NO. 4 - THE NERD

On TV, they wear oversized glasses (geek without the chic), mismatched patterns, they have serious orthodontia issues, and are socially awkward to the extreme. In real life, it's not quite as extreme, but they definitely exist. Heck, I was one for years (without the braces). Which brings me to their archetype...

CLICHE NO. 3 - THE LOVE TRIANGLE (I forgot this, but thanks to Kyra for reminding me!)

One of the most disliked and often tedious aspects of YA fiction (particularly paranormal), the love tringle is a big fat cliche. BUT it does happen. What about the girl who's liked the same boy for ages, but he's going out with someone else, so she agrees to go to prom with the other boy she likes. But then the original boy dumps his girl and asks girl 1 out. Cliched, but I know people who this has happened to. And polyandry isn't legal in the UK just yet, so it's a teensy problem...

CLICHE NO. 2 - THE BITCHY POPULAR GIRL

You knew the mean girls picture had a reason. These girls do exist, 100 per cent. They've got a rich boyfriend at uni, flawless skin, and a following of girls who hate them but worship them. In my book THE BRIGHTEST FELL, I very much enjoyed writing my own mean girl (and boys), from their points of view. And it's a hard life, so don't wish you were them.

CLICHE NO. 1 - THE TEACHERS EVERYONE HATES/LOVES/SLEEPS WITH

I've cheated and put 3 in, but there is a big cliche that any teachers worth mentioning are hot/evil/awesome. That isn't totally true, but they're the ones all teens will remember/have strong feelings about, and every school has them. First, the evil cow who radiates hate for her students. The woman who took up teaching because she didn't have good enough people skills for anything else. Or the mysogynistic male teacher who's a total sleaze. Next, the teacher who lets the class chat, makes lessons fun, and always hands out chocolates at christmas. Rarer, admittedly, but these mythical creatures still exist. And then there's the teachers who are so hot that the school jocks and male model-alikes/hot mean girls hate them with a passion. The teacher that looks like Alex Pettyfer/Zac Efron/Megan Fox/Rihanna. Yes, you know the one.


So there're my cliches. Do you agree? and do you have any true cliches to add?

Oh, and please click follow *smiles hopefully*

Memory Monday - The Opposite of Chocolate by Julie Bertagna

The Opposite of Chocolate is apparently one of the most stolen books in UK school libraries, and I can see why. As well as its edgy-at-the-time (pub. 2003) subject matter of teen pregnancy and arson, it is a really good book. The battered old copy in my local library has not been stolen yet, but it's been read so many times it's on its third return slip (the bit in the front where the dates go).

Here's the Goodreads summary:

A second novel for Young Picador from Whitbread-shortlist star! It's a long, hot summer - and a climactic one. For 14-year-old Sapphire it brings the awesome, terrifying realisation that she is pregnant - a discovery that catapults her into the eye of a storm as her body, her future, her life, become a battleground for everyone's needs but her own. Meanwhile, out in the humid urban night, a mysterious firebug is running wild, working out his own anger and confusion with dramatic consequences. Somehow, from this cauldron of emotion and fear, Sapphire must find a way to take control of her life - and make the most agonising and lonely of choices.

TOoC won loads of awards here in the UK, and many praised the atmosphere of the novel: the long, hot, sweaty summer full of fires and endless evenings. I first read this as a 14-yr-old, the same age as the protagonist, Sapphire, and the thought of being in her place made me squirm with horror (I was quite a sheltered child).

So has anyone heard of it? It's well worth giving this one a read - I imagine you can pick up a copy on amazon for less than $2/£2, seeing as it's been out a while.

And what where the books that were wildly popular in your school libraries when you were a pupil? Or the ones that you read but dared not take out in case the librarians looked at you funny or other kids found out?