The Book of Lists for Teens

by Sandra Choron, Harry Choron (Illustrator)

Face it: no self-respecting young adult likes to be caught out of the know. But few teenagers have the time or inclination to plow through Web sites, almanacs, and weighty reference books to find the answers to all their questions. The Book of Lists for Teens is an informative, lively, and engaging source of information about all kinds of things, and it’s fun.
It’s all here: everything that matters most to people aged twelve to sixteen, from lists on cyberfun, music, and movies to advice about social pressures, family matters, and planning for the future. Packed with Internet addresses, recommended reading, and project ideas, The Book of Lists for Teens provides a resource that goes far beyond its pages.

Featuring: • Tips for raising well-adjusted parents • Consumer scams especially aimed at teens • Foods to eat before taking a test • Tips for buying a stereo • How to stay safe at concerts • Reasons to keep a private journal (and ways to make sure it stays that way—private!) And much, much more . . .

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

SANDRA CHORON graduated from Lehman College in 1971 and then worked as an editor at Hawthorn Books for eight years and then Dell Publishing for two years, where she was senior editor of trade paperbacks, before founding her own literary agency/book packaging firm, March Tenth, Inc., in 1980. Specializing in books on popular culture and rock music eventually led to a position as art director for Bruce Springsteen, whose record albums and merchandise she designed from 1985 until 2003. Sandra Choron has served as a member of the board of directors of the American Book Producers Association and is the author of a number of books, including Rocktopicon, coauthored with Dave Marsh in 1984; National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982); Elvis: The Last Word (1991); The Book of Lists for Kids (with Harry Choron, 1985, 1995, 2002); The Book of Lists for Teens (with Harry Choron, 2002); 1,001 Tips for Caregivers (with Sasha Carr, 2002); Planet Dog (with Harry Choron, 2005) and Planet Cat (with Harry Choron, 2007), both of which were optioned for TV treatment by Animal Planet, as well as Planet Wedding (with Harry Choron, 2010). She is a founding editor of the music and politics monthly newsletter Rock & Rap Confidential. She has been a guest speaker at various publishing conferences and has taught Book Publishing on the college level at Lehman College in New York.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very poorly researched. I found many debunked urban legends presented as fact. Marylin Monroe did not have 11 toes. The US flag does not appear on the back of a Canadian bill. Cut and paste job from the internet, a sad addition to the book of lists family.

[Laina SpareTime]

Cross-posted from my blog where there's more information on where I got my copy and links and everything.

This is like reading a magazine from 2002. It’s fun for me because I was like ten in 2002, but it’s very, very dated.

My favourite suggestions are from the “Simplify Your Life” list, which includes “Get an address book,” “Create a filing system,” “Don’t wear makeup regularly,” “Don’t get any piercings or dye your hair,” “Listen to music at the record store before buying CDs,” “Don’t be a prima donna” and by this they mean, use the same shampoo, soap, and breakfast cereal as everyone in your household because anyone with allergies is just a drama queen, clearly. You also should not “Play sports that require elaborate equipment, planning, or expense” or “Answer every email you get.” You also should not send your friends large files, like 50KB photos, because it might take 20 minutes for them to download them, or meet someone from the Internet, and you must be careful about chat rooms. Also be careful about fake Beanie Baby sellers.

However, if you’re bored, they suggest to “Pray”, “Cry”, and “Don’t talk for a whole day”. Oh, and even though you shouldn’t wear makeup, you should slather your face in Vaseline and clog your pores to death. They recommend using it on your eyebrows, eyelashes, lips, and cheeks for a “healthy glow”.

It’s very cissexist and very binarist. They don’t acknowledge that trans people exist at all. Gay people are mentioned very, very occasionally, like three times, but in the section about dating, it’s assumed everyone is heterosexual. I will say for the time, the list about myths about HIV, and the list about sex myths, were probably a pretty good. But overall, not great on all that.

I also found any mention of weight or eating pretty obnoxious. There’s a bunch of diet talk, like to “control yourself” by not eating when you’re full, calorie counts of a bunch of fast food, and a list about of “Tips for Dressing Thin” which say that oversized clothes look bad on an “oversized body”. Just a whole bunch of BS. I may just have defaced the book in a few places where it really annoyed me.

What? I own it. I can cross stuff out if I want.

Anyways, it’s pretty goofy and I’ll probably keep it because a lot of it really amuses but the problems with books like these is they age so, so fast, but they do have a lot of appeal to teen readers. This type of format also has big selective reader appeal. It’s a double edged sword. I can see it being popular at the time, but I also see why it’s been weeded by my library. I got a laugh out of it, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an easy read and had lots of great advice.

[Theresa ♫ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is full of ideas.

That's basically all I remember.


You see, I recently returned this book to the library thinking, "I know this book. I'll be okay typing the review from my memories."
Yet, as the klutzy klutz I am, I totally forgot. Whoops.

But I do remember that I didn't end this book with a smile.
It was more like...the face you make when you try to squish your eyebrows towards your eyes. Like a "What did I just read?" face.


I think the lists are meant to be general, but this book is a book of someone's opinions. Most of the lists that I remember are based on opinions. (Or things related to opinions and such.)


First, one of the lists I saw that I actually thought was a pretty good start was:

100 Things To Do When There's Nothing To Do

(Objection: When you can find a list of things to do when there's nothing to do, there ARE things to do.)

There were lots of different options in those "100 things to do".

1. Exercise
2. Play music
3. Write a love letter
4. Do tomorrow's homework
5. Eh-Ti-Cuh *ETC.* (and a bunch of things that I...don't exactly remember straight out from the top of my head)

These are good ideas that can build up other ideas. These ideas are just bases that start up ideas for you to do.
Like the idea of "exercise".
From that, you might get the idea to just jog around the park.
But then, when you think about jogging around the part, you think, "Okay, lets go to the park and exercise by swinging about 20 feet off the ground on the park swings!"
And then you've officially found something to do when you have nothing to do.

Yeah. Some of these would be pretty useful in life.


But these are just GENERAL ideas.

I thought it was pretty blunt at first. I mean if I was writing this list, I bet one of MY options would probably be something like
1. "Pull out The Book of Lists for Teens and read this list of things to do when there's nothing to do."
2. "Attempt to break dance."
3. "Do the following dance poses:
~(*O*~)
(~*O*)~
--(*O*)--"

But those are my ideas. And I'm a crazy, weird little child.


The fact that these lists builds up ideas for you is pretty good. There are also some other creative lists.
Like that "What How You Eat An Oreo Says About You" thing. That was pretty original.


But I guess what made me a little irked was the lists on love and such. I think there was a list on flirting and what to do when you're dumped...and I can't exactly remember those, but I do remember that those lists on love made me roll my eyes and say, "Pssh! That's not true at all!"

I'm a big love freak. I mean when I see something said about love that's false, it irks me a little.
Like "Love at first sight." People tell stories about this all the time and I keep saying, "That's not true! Love at first sight is not real! Don't be teaching us that it is!"

I'll go into further detail when I re-check out this book and I get another peek into those lists. But yeah, I think that's basically one of my problems with this book...



If you're looking for ideas, come over and take a peek at this book.

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Book of Lists for Teens" isn't exactly what some may call a "real" book because it's a bunch of random lists for teenagers but in my opinion, this book is definetly a good read. It is filled with tons of lists that can help you pick up the girl that you've been crushing on, or why not look up the lists of organizations that are looking for teenage volunteers? There are many useless as well as very useful lists inside this book and honestly this is very much a good book for teenagers. The lists are well thought out and the combinations of topics are planned out well, so I would definetly recommend this book to any teenage looking for a good book to glance through.

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

My parents got me this at a yard sale. I skimmed through it and probably read a third or a fourth of the book jumping around because it was kind of addictive. I found some of it really interesting, like the entertainment section. I also liked how it gave information on teen run organizations and publications that publish teen writing. Though not enthralling for me now, I probably would have loved this book as a teen.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these lists seemed condescending despite the author stating that the lists were there to give you options and not tell you who to be; some lists told you not to get tattoos or dye your hair. But those missteps aside, a lot of these lists were really interesting and made me think. Worth the read especially because if you're not interested in a list then you can just skip a list.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is totally random, but it's amazing. There are some pretty good ideas in here, along with really random facts. 100 things to do when you're alone, 13 conversation stoppers, Analysis of How you Eat An Oreo, etc... Highly recommended. :D

[GiaHue]

I love this book a lot because it has random lists of very interesting things. I recommend everyone to try this, Even though it says book of lists for teens. It doesn't mean that this book is only for teens.

[Moonbean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discovered this one while shelf-reading (it was randomly stuck in with the science books) and briefly browsed through it. It's not award-winning material, but it's entertaining. Something to read to pass the time.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

My daughter got this from the library, and I browsed through it today. Nothing really outstanding, not very funny.

[Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many, many lists on a variety of topics, some serious and some lighthearted. This is a great read when you want something short but interesting and a good resource.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love lists!

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will appeal to non-commital readers looking for a laugh or some insight into the minds of adolescents. It's a light read, but it has some profound lists as well as superficial ones.

[Farida El-Bakry · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 2words,fun & useful :))

[Jai · Rating 1 out of 5]

rude and demeaning to young people and unrealistic that teens would actually listen to it. this book was based on the authors outdated opinions.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very poorly researched, with a lot of debunked urban legends presented as facts. A very poor editorial job.

[Ashleigh Cartmill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some fun lists in it. Like "What the Way You Eat Oreos Says About You".

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book