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Please Don't Kill the Freshman: A Memoir
I wrote a story about you. Well, sort of, see, it's mostly about me. Well, entirely about me, but here's the catch: I'm you. No, really, I mean it. Not like that transcendentalism stuff we're learning in English class, but really, truly, I'm you. I know what it feels like when your heart beats so hard against your white bone ribs, when you sing in the shower with soap in your eyes, when you run until you get a side ache. I wrote this story about you because I am so in love with you, your broken-fence teeth and your tissue-paper scars. I love you when you're so exhausted it could topple you to the ground, so in love it could snap guitar strings, so sickly sweet it could make lips smile. This is a reckless love story. This is my shameless confession.
304 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 2001
19 people are currently reading
1433 people want to read
About the author
Zoe Trope
9 books111 followersZoe Trope is the pen name of Zoe Fisher. She was born in 1986 & graduated from high school in Oregon in 2003. That same year, HarperCollins published her high school memoir, Please Don't Kill the Freshman. Since then, she has written essays, short stories, and poetry. Her 2017 essay, "Libraries Are the Real Punk Rock" was one of the 15 most-read essays of the year at The Rumpus.
She graduated from Oberlin College in 2008 with a Bachelor's in Art History and completed her Master's degree in Library Science in 2010. Zoe is an instructional designer at a community college in Seattle, Washington and welcomes correspondence at ztrope at gmail dot com.
She graduated from Oberlin College in 2008 with a Bachelor's in Art History and completed her Master's degree in Library Science in 2010. Zoe is an instructional designer at a community college in Seattle, Washington and welcomes correspondence at ztrope at gmail dot com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
August 2, 2007
I find it funny how some people who review this think its supposed to make sense.
It's not.
It's a diary. Its a confession that being a teenager is difficult, and something I think that many adults seem to forget. We teenagers think life is so difficult that no one can comprehend it, except for other teenagers. And for most of my generation's parents, they tend to write us off as complaining little children who don't know what we're talking about.
This book, I think, is one of those things that lets everyone else know that we DO know what we are talking about, even if its not as well thought-out. There are insights to be found in our so-called trivial problems.
We're not ignorant, we're just drowing and suffocating in a world that doesn't care.
It's not.
It's a diary. Its a confession that being a teenager is difficult, and something I think that many adults seem to forget. We teenagers think life is so difficult that no one can comprehend it, except for other teenagers. And for most of my generation's parents, they tend to write us off as complaining little children who don't know what we're talking about.
This book, I think, is one of those things that lets everyone else know that we DO know what we are talking about, even if its not as well thought-out. There are insights to be found in our so-called trivial problems.
We're not ignorant, we're just drowing and suffocating in a world that doesn't care.
November 17, 2007
Working with Zoe Trope, publishing her chapbook version of PDKTF, and helping her get her deal with HarperCollins before she was even out of high school are probably the most exciting moments I've had as a publisher. To top it all off, Zoe remains a funny, sweet, and talented young woman. If you can find the old Future Tense pamphlet version you're lucky. There were only about 3,000 made (I'm not sure because I lost count...so much stapling).
September 27, 2007
So disappointing. The original chapbook (published by Kevin Sampsell of Future Tense Press) inspired me when I was fourteen (four years ago), but this extended version overstretches Trope's initial charm and takes the reader nowhere. She is talented and could have done better.
August 4, 2012
I read this book the year it came out and I probably loved it then.
But, it's funny how your perspective changes once you get older, once you learn who the "anonymous" author is and that she wrote about some of your very good friends and said some very untrue things about them.
Zoe Trope (pseudonym, first name is really Zoe, last name is different but I'll grant her the privacy of keeping her anonymity) graduated the same year as many of my friends at a local Oregon high school. She was writing the book while still in school, which she did not graduate early from (as her Wikipedia articles says). A few of the characters in the novel are my friends and they are well aware that it is about them.
I re-read the book last year and couldn't believe how childish it is, which is something it was actually praised for at the time of its release. There are moments of lovely prose and hints of a great author; but she has not produced any books since Please Don't Kill the Freshman's release in late 2003.
But, it's funny how your perspective changes once you get older, once you learn who the "anonymous" author is and that she wrote about some of your very good friends and said some very untrue things about them.
Zoe Trope (pseudonym, first name is really Zoe, last name is different but I'll grant her the privacy of keeping her anonymity) graduated the same year as many of my friends at a local Oregon high school. She was writing the book while still in school, which she did not graduate early from (as her Wikipedia articles says). A few of the characters in the novel are my friends and they are well aware that it is about them.
I re-read the book last year and couldn't believe how childish it is, which is something it was actually praised for at the time of its release. There are moments of lovely prose and hints of a great author; but she has not produced any books since Please Don't Kill the Freshman's release in late 2003.
September 26, 2010
"Please Don't Kill The Freshman" is the journal of talented writer Zoe Trope during her freshman and sophomore years in high school. It was originally published as a small "chap book", but due to it's popularity and success was picked up by a large publishing company and she was asked to expand it past the original 30-something pages. It deals with some controversial issues, a chief one being the importance of discovering our sexuality during our teenage years, as well as our sexual preference.
This book is above all a journal. It rambles and rolls as the waves of thought often do inside all of us. The difference between our daily diary entries and Trope's journals is the fact the she is interesting, an extremely talented writer, and has something to say (whether she has figured out what exactly that is yet). I have never read a book like this before - the short, cleverly crafted sentences, the character cast lists, the often ambiguous descriptions. I enjoyed the ambiguity - it left the experiences vacant enough to fill them with our own memories. Trope seems almost to ask us to do this, as she tells us on the back of the book, "This book is about you." It is honest and relateable. I myself just left high school, and it rings true. There is the taste of authenticity of thought that I don't think you can find in any teen fiction.
Trope is an excellent writer, and her poetic prose chapters and entries are laden with musings on love, life, and other such typical subjects. They were, for the most part, wonderful and I think worth reading the book for. I'm not sure if I liked her thoughts because they resonated with me as much as because they were so generic, things that I believe every person has thought of at some time in their lives. In her battle to be unique, Trope has ultimately won the prize of relatability, which I might say is a greater victory.
However, I find myself wondering if perhaps the book would've been best left as the original issue - the shorter one. While it is a joy to read her words, they recycle themselves quickly and I began to feel as if I were re-reading certain sections. Trope said that there is little "literary arc" because the book is a memoir and a chronicle of her life, and while I respect that, it doesn't mean I am going to overlook the fact that the book reads like one lazy afternoon - enjoyable at first with the prospect of all that can be accomplished, but as the afternoon draws on boredom sits in, and though it is still a nice day, it has lost it's sense of promise.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this work. It was a new writing style, and I am glad I was exposed to it. It was a very fast read, taking up only a few hours of my time, and yet left me with the feeling of having actually read something. I would recommend it to teenage girls like myself.
This book is above all a journal. It rambles and rolls as the waves of thought often do inside all of us. The difference between our daily diary entries and Trope's journals is the fact the she is interesting, an extremely talented writer, and has something to say (whether she has figured out what exactly that is yet). I have never read a book like this before - the short, cleverly crafted sentences, the character cast lists, the often ambiguous descriptions. I enjoyed the ambiguity - it left the experiences vacant enough to fill them with our own memories. Trope seems almost to ask us to do this, as she tells us on the back of the book, "This book is about you." It is honest and relateable. I myself just left high school, and it rings true. There is the taste of authenticity of thought that I don't think you can find in any teen fiction.
Trope is an excellent writer, and her poetic prose chapters and entries are laden with musings on love, life, and other such typical subjects. They were, for the most part, wonderful and I think worth reading the book for. I'm not sure if I liked her thoughts because they resonated with me as much as because they were so generic, things that I believe every person has thought of at some time in their lives. In her battle to be unique, Trope has ultimately won the prize of relatability, which I might say is a greater victory.
However, I find myself wondering if perhaps the book would've been best left as the original issue - the shorter one. While it is a joy to read her words, they recycle themselves quickly and I began to feel as if I were re-reading certain sections. Trope said that there is little "literary arc" because the book is a memoir and a chronicle of her life, and while I respect that, it doesn't mean I am going to overlook the fact that the book reads like one lazy afternoon - enjoyable at first with the prospect of all that can be accomplished, but as the afternoon draws on boredom sits in, and though it is still a nice day, it has lost it's sense of promise.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this work. It was a new writing style, and I am glad I was exposed to it. It was a very fast read, taking up only a few hours of my time, and yet left me with the feeling of having actually read something. I would recommend it to teenage girls like myself.
January 29, 2011
"Io sono solo un limone che oltre a una smorfia può offrire ben poco. Un giorno sarò una mela. Un giorno imparerò a essere dolce."
Zoe Trope (ovviamente pseudonimo) quando scrive ha quattordici, quindici anni. E' l'era di Bush e dell'11 Settembre 2001.
Cosa significa essere adolescenti del XXI secolo? Ci sono milioni di persone che ci hanno scritto su e hanno cercato di rispondere. Lei, no.
"Scusate se ho quindici anni" non è una provocazione, non è Melissa P., non è J.T. LeRoy, non è un memoriale e non è pura autobiografia. Scritto con uno stile semplice, asciutto, ed originalissimo, è un collage di pensieri sparsi. Anziché puntare sulla ricostruzione degli eventi, sulla descrizione delle vicende, l'autrice mette a nudo i suoi pensieri. Senza alcun filtro. Che li capiate o meno, poco importa.
E' un libro che non vuole stupire e non vuole essere generazionale. Non è l'affermazione di una nuova generazione: Zoe Trope non parla a nome di tutti gli adolescenti americani che guardano le torri gemelle crollare. Parla solo a nome suo. Non la storia dell'adolescenza, quindi, ma di un'adolescente soltanto.
Se non avete avuto quindici anni nel 2001 forse le sue parole vi suoneranno strane. Ma resta comunque l'apprezzamento per un stile narrativo originalissimo e lontano da qualunque archetipo o cliché.
November 15, 2011
Zoe Trope's memoir is unlike any book I've read before. Her writing style is so original and different: she puts into words the feelings of angsty, confused, sensitive, sexually-confused, young teenagers, yet she does it in a way that is so endearing. All the characters in her memoir are mentioned in a list at the beginning of the book and again later when the characters change. This comes in handy as she nicknames ALL of her characters-- very quirky, fitting names that she gives these people-- and sometimes it was hard to follow who was who. Zoe is an exploring young girl, not sure if she is bisexual or gay, and her (mis)adventures with men and women alike is touching and relatable. The author's voice is poetic, beautiful, and at times abstract and metaphorical. ("I am trying not to drown. I am trying to bloom. Please don't kill the flowers.") I greatly admire her way of words, her similes and metaphors-- I take a lot of influence in my writing from her open mind that sees the things others don't. I find her voice to be the one I wanted to have when I was her age. Zoe Trope's experiences in high school, relationships, life, and writing are the kind you devour for all the emotions packed in. I'd recommend this book to any young reader or writer, particularly females.
December 19, 2013
I think I've officially arrived at the "I'm too old for..." party. Yeah, I don't understand most rap music, I forget the difference between Twilight and Teen Wolf (which one had Team Jacob?), and The Voice, American Idol, America's Got Talent---it all sounds like crap to me. Boy bands today (One Direction, ummm that's the only one I can think of) are basically the sons of boy bands of my generation (Backstreet Boys, again can't think of any others). And this book unfortunately falls into my "I'm too old for..." category. Some of it most definitely rings true, as I'm not too old to completely have forgotten what high school was like. But much of the book just doesn't strike me because I have mostly forgotten the emotion of high school. Yes, I can remember being shunned (not really, I wasn't even noticeable enough to be shunned) but the actual feeling of being shunned? Not so much. It's like watching videos of yourself as a kid. Sure you remember GOING to Disney World, but you don't remember BEING at Disney World--except in a "I'm watching a film of my childhood" sorta way. So now, I'm going to put some medicine on my foot wart, grab me a bowl of bran flakes, and slide my way into old-person-ville.
July 3, 2012
This book could go on a Goodreads shelf titled: books written by authors I take Pilates with. However, since Zoe Trope hasn't yet written a second novel and there are no other authors in my Pilates class, it would be a very thin shelf. I've been interested in this book since its release several years ago (Portland setting! Written by actual high school teenager!) but have just now gotten around to reading it. It was tough going the first 50 pages. I almost stopped reading, overwhelmed by the voice that was clearly very smart and clearly very, very disdainful of school. However, I kept going and was rewarded by that disdain fading and leaving some incredibly delightful prose. It's rough and could have used more editing--something that was rejected by the author--but the roughness has its charms and the charms are many. It's also nice to see the difference in acceptance of gay teenagers at the high school level ten years after I graduated from high school.
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November 5, 2014When reading Please Don't Kill the Freshman, I was shocked when I came across so many cuss words. I liked the book's theme because I do believe that a teenagers life is very hard and i understand that, but I feel like the style of writing should be different. The pace of the book is ok most of the time, but i think some chapters went fast. I would recommend this book to anyone in high school and even someone who isn't the intended audience. I would recommend this book to incoming freshman or eighth graders to get them prepared for high school. This book would inform them for what high school is like and what it is that upperclassmen don't like about the freshman the most. If I could choose a book again, I wouldn't choose this one. I didn't really enjoy the book and the author didn't really grab my attention or pull me into the book.
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May 3, 2011Too self-indulgent and irritating for grown-ups to read. Might have been tolerable in 1993 instead of 2003, but I'm not sure why Dave Eggers found it "unflinching...lyrical and even surreal." I only managed to conquer page 20 before throwing it across the room in annoyance, so take my review with a grain of salt.
November 14, 2010
illeggibile!
March 5, 2024
I stole this book from my school library. Scandalous, I know, but it is the worst crime I've ever committed, so I think I should get a pass. I read this on the pretense that it was going to be obsessive and personal and dark.
I have never understood a girl more in my life. Her anger, her inside references, her disgust, her indifference, how much love she had, and how she judged. How she read and how she wrote. Everything was a whirlwind of metaphors, and the way this was written was as if Zoe had stuck a needle in my brain and extracted it to use as ink in her typewriter.
She had me start journaling. I'm writing again, something I lose myself in. No one has made me feel so normal like this book did. It was drama. It was life. I am so jealous of the way she was able to live her high school years. It's like I've wasted all mine trying to be her. I am going to email her and tell her I'm in love with her.
Bottom line: She is me. I am her. We are a single conscious being spread through decades of time and I'm sure another teen girl will be the exact same way as us in another 20 years.
I. Love. This. Girl.
I have never understood a girl more in my life. Her anger, her inside references, her disgust, her indifference, how much love she had, and how she judged. How she read and how she wrote. Everything was a whirlwind of metaphors, and the way this was written was as if Zoe had stuck a needle in my brain and extracted it to use as ink in her typewriter.
She had me start journaling. I'm writing again, something I lose myself in. No one has made me feel so normal like this book did. It was drama. It was life. I am so jealous of the way she was able to live her high school years. It's like I've wasted all mine trying to be her. I am going to email her and tell her I'm in love with her.
Bottom line: She is me. I am her. We are a single conscious being spread through decades of time and I'm sure another teen girl will be the exact same way as us in another 20 years.
I. Love. This. Girl.
September 14, 2017
"Sono innamorata da un mese esatto e so che lo sanno. Lo sanno sicuramente tutti. Chissà se sanno che sono gay, se è questo che pensano. Ma io non sono gay, sono solo innamorata e mi sono innamorata di una ragazza. Questo rende tutto più difficile. Tutti capiscono cos'è un gay, nessuno capisce l'amore".
February 25, 2025
I can understand some of the criticisms. The writing style took getting used to, seemingly disjointed metaphors are lost on me. But! art need not be perfect to be valuable. as it went on I found myself getting more in the headspace of the author/my teen self and on that I found value, substance and emotion. Not as impactful *to me* as some other media I have consumed in this vein but still worth my read
December 28, 2019
DNF. I got at least 30 pages into this and found it much too cryptic for me to keep up with (read: I'm too old now for this nonsense!). The multiple 'List of Characters' are more like a key to break a code and the writing style reads like someone overly inspired by their first creative writing class -- where things like pills are described as "quiet" ("and take some quiet pink pills," page 9). That gave me a good sense of the book. It's not like any diary I've ever written, for sure.
I know I'm not the target audience for it and it was written by a teenager (yep, it's a pretentious teenager. Spot on, duh, because it's written by one.). There's slack I should cut it. But I don't think I can because of that $100K advance it apparently got after being republished. I'm still struggling with the plausibility and the legality (read the other goodreads review implying parts of it aren't true. Sounds like a potential legal nightmare). The fact this book only has around 100 goodreads reviews since coming out in 2003-ish, despite being pumped by Dave Eggars and Zadie Smith, has me wondering if it was hyped properly by the publisher -- has me wondering if the author merely had connections to publication that I'm not clear on. The author is now well known in the library world (Zoe Trope was a pen name) and Charlie Jane Anders has mentioned her on the Our Opinions Are Correct podcast (which I listen to religiously). Thus, I was compelled to pick this book up for reasons other than pure interest in teen angst. Bonus fact: she apparently went to college with Lena Dunham, but who knows why we know that? Was Dunham published young too? Probably. Anyway, it made me want to read the book even more. I apparently love drama.
One thing that did bother me in the book is how she says she doesn't like being friends with girls. Maybe that changes throughout the book but it's quite sad to read today. I certainly don't think that's true of the author anymore. I'm quite a fan of her work/writing about libraries and librarianship. I just don't think this book ended up being what the publishing world probably wanted it to be?
Read the rest of my review: https://blackandwhitepandaduh.wordpre...
I know I'm not the target audience for it and it was written by a teenager (yep, it's a pretentious teenager. Spot on, duh, because it's written by one.). There's slack I should cut it. But I don't think I can because of that $100K advance it apparently got after being republished. I'm still struggling with the plausibility and the legality (read the other goodreads review implying parts of it aren't true. Sounds like a potential legal nightmare). The fact this book only has around 100 goodreads reviews since coming out in 2003-ish, despite being pumped by Dave Eggars and Zadie Smith, has me wondering if it was hyped properly by the publisher -- has me wondering if the author merely had connections to publication that I'm not clear on. The author is now well known in the library world (Zoe Trope was a pen name) and Charlie Jane Anders has mentioned her on the Our Opinions Are Correct podcast (which I listen to religiously). Thus, I was compelled to pick this book up for reasons other than pure interest in teen angst. Bonus fact: she apparently went to college with Lena Dunham, but who knows why we know that? Was Dunham published young too? Probably. Anyway, it made me want to read the book even more. I apparently love drama.
One thing that did bother me in the book is how she says she doesn't like being friends with girls. Maybe that changes throughout the book but it's quite sad to read today. I certainly don't think that's true of the author anymore. I'm quite a fan of her work/writing about libraries and librarianship. I just don't think this book ended up being what the publishing world probably wanted it to be?
Read the rest of my review: https://blackandwhitepandaduh.wordpre...
March 22, 2011
This book is way, way outside my usual reading space. I picked it up partly because I enjoy broadening my repertoire, partly because I was curious what a successful high-school-age author has to say, and partly because the author is an Obie (and a friend of a friend).
I quite liked it, actually. The blurb on the back promised that I'd identify with the author/narrator, and indeed I did. Zoe Trope is a curious mix of the exceptional and the ordinary. Highly intelligent and amazingly sophisticated for her age, she is nonetheless mired in teenage angst, which seems to occupy about 95% of her waking thoughts. She has to rush off from a meeting with a major publishing company to attend marching band practice. I had some of that going on in high school—not the book deals, of course, or the cynicism (I'd require another decade to grow into that), but definitely the mix of lust and academic boredom.
You know who Zoe Trope reminds me of? A teenage Harriet the Spy.
The most puzzling thing about the memoir is its title. I expected that bullying or homophobia would play a big part in the story. Come to think of it, I'm puzzled that an LGBT club would have been all that controversial in Portland at the turn of the millennium. I was living in Salt Lake City when, in 1996, East High School tried to start a club for gay students—and the Utah state legislature, in an illegal closed-door meeting, decided to ban all high-school clubs. Portland I'd have expected to be much less tight-assed about gay clubs.
Anyway, I thank Zoe (the author) for reminding me how much I'm glad that I'm no longer in high school, and how glad I am that I got high school over with in the boring 80s. The music alone would have driven me crazy.
I quite liked it, actually. The blurb on the back promised that I'd identify with the author/narrator, and indeed I did. Zoe Trope is a curious mix of the exceptional and the ordinary. Highly intelligent and amazingly sophisticated for her age, she is nonetheless mired in teenage angst, which seems to occupy about 95% of her waking thoughts. She has to rush off from a meeting with a major publishing company to attend marching band practice. I had some of that going on in high school—not the book deals, of course, or the cynicism (I'd require another decade to grow into that), but definitely the mix of lust and academic boredom.
You know who Zoe Trope reminds me of? A teenage Harriet the Spy.
The most puzzling thing about the memoir is its title. I expected that bullying or homophobia would play a big part in the story. Come to think of it, I'm puzzled that an LGBT club would have been all that controversial in Portland at the turn of the millennium. I was living in Salt Lake City when, in 1996, East High School tried to start a club for gay students—and the Utah state legislature, in an illegal closed-door meeting, decided to ban all high-school clubs. Portland I'd have expected to be much less tight-assed about gay clubs.
Anyway, I thank Zoe (the author) for reminding me how much I'm glad that I'm no longer in high school, and how glad I am that I got high school over with in the boring 80s. The music alone would have driven me crazy.
June 30, 2023
Very interesting memoir, written by someone who was a high school student in a suburban neighborhood near Portland, Oregon in the 1990's. "Zoe Trope" is a pen name. I've perused search engines, I can't find anything about Zoe Trope's real name, so I have no idea if she's written anything else in the years since "Please Don't Kill The Freshman" was published.
In "Please Don't Kill The Freshman," the author recounts her experiences as an LGBTQ teen during the decade when the administrators and teachers who were working at high schools throughout the U.S. were first beginning to recognize that schools need to create groups in which LGBTQ teens can discuss and address issues which affect them.
The pen name "Zoe Trope" is a reference to devices which were manufactured during the 19th century which were used to show a series of illustrations as motion by rotating. When the person who was viewing the zoetrope rotated the carousel faster, the images moved at a faster pace. Once the narrator/ protagonist of this book learns that her writings are going to be published, the pace of her day- to- day life speeds up, and she feels that she's not always the person who is in control of the rate at which her life seems to be suddenly accelerating.
I went to high school in the 1980's, and I'm not LGBTQ. You don't need to have gone to high school in the 1990's or be LGBTQ to appreciate this book, anyone who has ever felt alienated from the world around them while you were struggling with any personal or emotional issues will appreciate this book.
In "Please Don't Kill The Freshman," the author recounts her experiences as an LGBTQ teen during the decade when the administrators and teachers who were working at high schools throughout the U.S. were first beginning to recognize that schools need to create groups in which LGBTQ teens can discuss and address issues which affect them.
The pen name "Zoe Trope" is a reference to devices which were manufactured during the 19th century which were used to show a series of illustrations as motion by rotating. When the person who was viewing the zoetrope rotated the carousel faster, the images moved at a faster pace. Once the narrator/ protagonist of this book learns that her writings are going to be published, the pace of her day- to- day life speeds up, and she feels that she's not always the person who is in control of the rate at which her life seems to be suddenly accelerating.
I went to high school in the 1980's, and I'm not LGBTQ. You don't need to have gone to high school in the 1990's or be LGBTQ to appreciate this book, anyone who has ever felt alienated from the world around them while you were struggling with any personal or emotional issues will appreciate this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2011
I must admit I picked up this book because of the cover, and when I read the back, I was disgusted that someone three years younger than me already had a memoir published, so I read it out of a mixture of curiosity and jealousy.
At first, I had really high hopes because I often like anything high school (consider where I still spend all my weekdays) and the fact Trope used hilarious nicknames instead of people's actual names. However, this stopped amusing me when it got confusing.
There were some lines that were perfectly beautiful, and then some very abstract cliche ones.
Trope is struggling with deciding whether she is gay or bisexual, which was an interesting conflict, but it just seemed whiny at times.
I wonder if I would have liked it more if I read it when I was still in high school. Maybe I'm too old.
It did make me appreciate WHS though because her high school wouldn't even allow her to start a Gay-Straight Alliance club because they were afraid of the backlash. I can't imagine working and living in such a close-minded environment.
At first, I had really high hopes because I often like anything high school (consider where I still spend all my weekdays) and the fact Trope used hilarious nicknames instead of people's actual names. However, this stopped amusing me when it got confusing.
There were some lines that were perfectly beautiful, and then some very abstract cliche ones.
Trope is struggling with deciding whether she is gay or bisexual, which was an interesting conflict, but it just seemed whiny at times.
I wonder if I would have liked it more if I read it when I was still in high school. Maybe I'm too old.
It did make me appreciate WHS though because her high school wouldn't even allow her to start a Gay-Straight Alliance club because they were afraid of the backlash. I can't imagine working and living in such a close-minded environment.
September 13, 2007
I found this at times it was a bit pretentious (as only a teenage writer can be) but for the most part, I thought this was quietly profound. I was most grateful of the things it reminded me of from my own tumultuous adolescence: everyone feels like they're the only one going through riotous changes, and love is above all the most important thing. I hear that loud and clear, even at twenty-five. I love how BIG everything is in high school, and how it all becomes fondly smaller on the other side. This book helped refresh and reset my perspective.
July 8, 2009
Never before have I read a book where I felt like I was inside the author's head. The book reads as a stream of conscienceness dictation of Zoe Trope's thoughts. What made this book even more appealing is that after I read it I wanted to find out more about the auther (a first for me). I came to find out that she was actually a student at Oberlin college and two years younger than me! The actual content dealt with LGBT topics, highschool and finding her own niche. I highly recommend this novel to mature teens who are looking for an author with a unique style of writing.
March 18, 2014
Honestly, this is either a love it or hate it book.
You can either appreciate the raw juiciness of a teenage girl's diary and looking through her complex eyes at an ordinary life and see the beauty of how she cam describe the smallest thing and how much these things can mean to a young person...
Or you can be distracted by the rawness, you can be appalled at the foul language, at the lack of organization.
Personally I found the book beautiful and empowering especially as a high school student myself
You can either appreciate the raw juiciness of a teenage girl's diary and looking through her complex eyes at an ordinary life and see the beauty of how she cam describe the smallest thing and how much these things can mean to a young person...
Or you can be distracted by the rawness, you can be appalled at the foul language, at the lack of organization.
Personally I found the book beautiful and empowering especially as a high school student myself
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January 20, 2011Because being in a state of teen angst and awkwardness is good for graphic novel revisions.
November 27, 2018
Riley, Brendan
Per.5
Book Review 1
In the Memoir Please Don’t Kill The Freshman by Zoe Trope, Zoe talks about her life as a freshman and as a sophomore; she describes high school life so perfectly. As I read it through I began to see more and more connections to my own high school life.
An example of good description done by Zoe Trope is on page 21 in entry quatre.seize ( which means 4.16 in French), she talks about how she doesn’t hate her peers because its a waste of time to hate them, but she does dislike her teachers since she feels they don't truly teach them anything, they just waste time instead of her going to a museum or a library or a park where she could learn, but “ Sometimes I acknowledge it is not the fault of the school. It’s my own fault for being so unmotivated and ready to blame. I see these things but do not react.” The way she wrote this, it reminded me of my eighth-grade year when I had a teacher I didn’t like and all I did was blame them or I blamed the school system but looking back and having talked to them and understanding what I didn’t back then makes me appreciate them and the way they teach.
Another example of me seeing a connection between real life and Zoe’s Memoir is on page 169 on entry 1.17, she describes what finals week is like for most of us; which is stressful test taking, very little sleep, and everyone talking about tests and grades and percentages. I remember finals last year, and its exactly the way she describes it, people worried about their percentages, people with amazing grades “worried” about how they are so bad at a subject with a B+ in the class or people who talk about how they studied all night yet they aren’t even the slightest bit tires.
My final example of Zoe’s description skills is on page 124 in entry 10.14, it reminds of all of my schooling years because she talks about writing. She describes the way I felt when I had to write in most of my English classes, I’d get so stuck on my own thoughts because I was always worried about how I didn’t know what I was doing and I’d sit for minutes upon minutes worried that I would mess up and get kicked out school because I am permit. So she talks about an assignment that she was given days ago, yet she hasn’t even started it, reading this I thought about so many people, and about how many of them procrastinate.
The examples I have used shows that Zoe, using her skills in description shows what high school life is like. She used amazing descriptions about high school, with procrastination, finals week, and distrust/dislike of the school system. She was a high schooler when she wrote this and she described the exact way high school life is.
Per.5
Book Review 1
In the Memoir Please Don’t Kill The Freshman by Zoe Trope, Zoe talks about her life as a freshman and as a sophomore; she describes high school life so perfectly. As I read it through I began to see more and more connections to my own high school life.
An example of good description done by Zoe Trope is on page 21 in entry quatre.seize ( which means 4.16 in French), she talks about how she doesn’t hate her peers because its a waste of time to hate them, but she does dislike her teachers since she feels they don't truly teach them anything, they just waste time instead of her going to a museum or a library or a park where she could learn, but “ Sometimes I acknowledge it is not the fault of the school. It’s my own fault for being so unmotivated and ready to blame. I see these things but do not react.” The way she wrote this, it reminded me of my eighth-grade year when I had a teacher I didn’t like and all I did was blame them or I blamed the school system but looking back and having talked to them and understanding what I didn’t back then makes me appreciate them and the way they teach.
Another example of me seeing a connection between real life and Zoe’s Memoir is on page 169 on entry 1.17, she describes what finals week is like for most of us; which is stressful test taking, very little sleep, and everyone talking about tests and grades and percentages. I remember finals last year, and its exactly the way she describes it, people worried about their percentages, people with amazing grades “worried” about how they are so bad at a subject with a B+ in the class or people who talk about how they studied all night yet they aren’t even the slightest bit tires.
My final example of Zoe’s description skills is on page 124 in entry 10.14, it reminds of all of my schooling years because she talks about writing. She describes the way I felt when I had to write in most of my English classes, I’d get so stuck on my own thoughts because I was always worried about how I didn’t know what I was doing and I’d sit for minutes upon minutes worried that I would mess up and get kicked out school because I am permit. So she talks about an assignment that she was given days ago, yet she hasn’t even started it, reading this I thought about so many people, and about how many of them procrastinate.
The examples I have used shows that Zoe, using her skills in description shows what high school life is like. She used amazing descriptions about high school, with procrastination, finals week, and distrust/dislike of the school system. She was a high schooler when she wrote this and she described the exact way high school life is.
December 22, 2024
lo pesudonimo dell'autrice, zoe trope, è anche il nome di un antenato del cinematografo, in italiano lo zootropio (così definito da wikipedia: "Lo zootropio rappresentò un ulteriore sviluppo, rispetto al fenachistiscopio, nel tentativo di dar vita a immagini in movimento. Esso fu inventato da William George Horner. Si trattava di disegnare su un foglio di carta una serie di immagini (come oggi per i cartoni animati). La striscia così ottenuta veniva posta all'interno di un tamburo il cui movimento rotatorio, al solito, dava l'illusione del movimento.")
il libro è scritto in forma diaristica, infatti, ed è composto da una serie di immagini staccate.
già questo fatto - lo pseudonimo con la sua dietrologia - a me sa di fenomeno costruito ad arte. l'autrice sedicente quindicenne autentica, che nel diario mescola i piani temporali al punto che nella narrazione trova posto il lancio sul mercato del libro che il lettore tiene in mano, mi sembra costruita ancor più artificiosamente.
non l'ho ancora finito e lo finirò per testardaggine, ma mi sembra la pubblicità di se stesso. anche il linguaggio mi pare fin troppo alla moda, come i personaggi stereotipati e assolutamente "cool".
lo consiglio a chi è curioso dei fenomeni editoriali, ma lo sconsiglio a chi desidera trarre piacere dalla lettura.
il libro è scritto in forma diaristica, infatti, ed è composto da una serie di immagini staccate.
già questo fatto - lo pseudonimo con la sua dietrologia - a me sa di fenomeno costruito ad arte. l'autrice sedicente quindicenne autentica, che nel diario mescola i piani temporali al punto che nella narrazione trova posto il lancio sul mercato del libro che il lettore tiene in mano, mi sembra costruita ancor più artificiosamente.
non l'ho ancora finito e lo finirò per testardaggine, ma mi sembra la pubblicità di se stesso. anche il linguaggio mi pare fin troppo alla moda, come i personaggi stereotipati e assolutamente "cool".
lo consiglio a chi è curioso dei fenomeni editoriali, ma lo sconsiglio a chi desidera trarre piacere dalla lettura.
January 25, 2018
This book is amazing. And I am finding it difficult to discuss without giving away too much, because I want to let you experience it yourself. But here are some basics.
The book is a stream of consciousness narration with bits where the narrator looks back--well, I guess that is what memoirs do (even partially fictional memoirs).
Zooming back, the text narrates the life of Zoe Trope as she traverses her high school years. Her life is splintered on many levels as she attempts to cope with friends, enemies, gender identity, sex, and being a writer, etc.
The style might, potentially, be a challenge for some readers. The character's thoughts pour out on the page, not quite helter-skelter, but certainly not neatly organized; this is, I think, how it should be as she shares her thoughts and feelings as the occur.
The content is a tad racy, as well--sort of like high school life is for many students, with explicit language and sex.
The book is a stream of consciousness narration with bits where the narrator looks back--well, I guess that is what memoirs do (even partially fictional memoirs).
Zooming back, the text narrates the life of Zoe Trope as she traverses her high school years. Her life is splintered on many levels as she attempts to cope with friends, enemies, gender identity, sex, and being a writer, etc.
The style might, potentially, be a challenge for some readers. The character's thoughts pour out on the page, not quite helter-skelter, but certainly not neatly organized; this is, I think, how it should be as she shares her thoughts and feelings as the occur.
The content is a tad racy, as well--sort of like high school life is for many students, with explicit language and sex.
October 6, 2024
It's such a shame that this book is hard to track down because it is genuinely remarkable. This is a high school memoir of a west coast queer kid in the early 2000's. This is not some linear narrative with a big lesson to impart on it's readers; this is a deeply honest look inside the heart of a teenage girl full of angst, love, rage, love, confusion, love, hate, love, and raw talent. Zoe Trope's writing is direct, engaging, witty, relatable, vivid, feeling, and moving. This memoir is about identity, queer culture, loneliness, infatuation, jealousy, finding yourself, and finding your people. I WISH my teenage self could have read this in high school. I cannot say enough good things. It feels of the same world as Heathers in many ways. Notably, then it should come with some content warnings regarding mental health, sexual assault, homophobia, etc.
May 5, 2019
I wanted this book so much in high school that I paid $30 in shipping fees to buy a copy. I've heard that it's self-obsessed, holier-than-thou, and melodramatic, but who didn't feel like that as a teenager? Who hasn't wanted to spend hours being held by your best friend, or fall in love with every new person you mee This book still speaks to me now that I'm rounding out my early 20s, because the anxieties of being a writer, of looming adulthood, and loving your friends so much that it hurts still ring true.
I need to read this book in one sitting or I get lost, but the thousand emotions I feel and the dozens of facets of myself and my friends I see reflected back at me make for a satisfying punch to the gut.
I need to read this book in one sitting or I get lost, but the thousand emotions I feel and the dozens of facets of myself and my friends I see reflected back at me make for a satisfying punch to the gut.
June 17, 2022
I honestly don’t know what I just read. This book is obviously the diary of a girl figuring out her identity throughout her high school years. I wish i read this while I was in high school because the commentary accurately depicts what queer people experience during their youth.
Some of my favorite quotes include: “I feel like a giant lake constantly reflecting the mood of the sky above me”
“So this is a break. Are we broken? Can anyone fix us?Any tape? Screwdriver? Superglue?”
Although this book can be hard to follow and the summary on the back doesn’t really tell you what this book is about, I would say it’s worth reading at least once.
Some of my favorite quotes include: “I feel like a giant lake constantly reflecting the mood of the sky above me”
“So this is a break. Are we broken? Can anyone fix us?Any tape? Screwdriver? Superglue?”
Although this book can be hard to follow and the summary on the back doesn’t really tell you what this book is about, I would say it’s worth reading at least once.
July 21, 2024
Ho passato i 15 anni da troppo e quindi certe espressioni moderne mi sono incomprensibili. In più la stesura del romanzo, dalla prima all'ultima riga come se fosse una cascata di parole, spesso e volentieri senza soggetto, né preamboli, né introduzione all'argomento, senza chiarire nulla, né spiegare il perché di certe reazioni, lasciando quasi tutto all'immaginazione del lettore non è semplice da seguire.
Sinceramente credo di aver capito solo la metà..
Sinceramente credo di aver capito solo la metà..
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