Stop in the Name of Pants!

Fortunately for my sanity, my sister bought a copy of Stop in the Name of Pants! and was kind enough to lend it to me this weekend. I couldn't wait a moment longer to reacquaint myself with Georgia Nicolson.

Stop is the ninth book in the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison. The latest installment finds Georgia, a British teenager, once again full of "red bottomosity" and torn between the many boys in her life: Massimo the Lurve God, Dave the Laugh, and Robbie the Sex God.

Georgia's love life never really changes, progresses, or resolves. Yet I am absolutely entranced with her romances and have mini-crushes on all her boyfriends (although confessing that makes me a bit of a predator).

For a heroine, Georgia can be completely self absorbed, and she says and does the most outrageous things (including various Viking dances). But I adore her for her selfishness, which is consistently entertaining. Stop is as clever, amusing, and downright hilarious as the other books in the series.

Although Georgia and her personality sometimes feel stagnant (I mean, how much has really changed since book one?), Stop actually broadens Georgia's world a tidge. She must deal, albeit ungraciously, with her parents' marital problems. And I am embarrassed to admit that I was rather touched by a few scenes involving Georgia and her pet cat, Angus.

My only complaint is that Rennison ends Stop mid-scene. I turned the page, and suddenly the book was over. I find this tactic (also used in the last book) frustrating and disingenuous. I understand that it leaves the reader wanting more and dying to read the next book. But when that next book won't appear for a year, it is disrespectful to loyal fans to leave them completely hanging. I am tempted to write my own sequel (or ten-quel) to Stop just so I can feel some sort of comfort and closure.