If you are looking for a book that captures the essence of being a 14-year-old teeny-bopper — the insecurity, the obsessive/compulsiveness, the roller-coaster emotions, and the immature behavior — “Knocked out by My Nunga-Nungas” might be the perfect option. As the name suggests, sexual innuendos are frequent, and this has some Wisconsin parents fretting over how such “smut” can be included in local grade-school curriculum.
Linda Rutherford, the parent of an eighth-grade girl at Oregon Middle School in Oregon, Wis., filed a complaint with the school district several weeks ago after her daughter brought home the book from the school library.
Georgia is the pubescent, hormonally-imbalanced main character of the book, and consistently makes references to sexual situations.
Rutherford described the book as “smut.”
Despite the immense popularity of Louise Rennison, the book’s British author, the school’s committee members acknowledged that some parents might find the book offensive and inappropriate for young adults.
The committee, composed of four school-district educators, recently denied Rutherford’s request to remove the book from the school library.
The committee’s decision came after considering the district’s goal of promoting intellectual freedom. In the committee’s eyes, that goal outweighed any concerns from parents.
A male character in the book calls breasts “nunga-nungas” because he says, “If you get hold of a girl’s breast and pull it out and then let it go, it goes nunga-nunga-nunga.”
The panel also decided that while some excerpts could be considered sexually suggestive, the book still accurately portrays the changes and frustrations that plague teenage girls and should be available to students whose parents have no objections.
Rutherford was disappointed with the committee’s decision.
“If it is the intent of this committee to introduce this book as part of the educational program, I’d have to say that our schools have deteriorated,” Rutherford said.
Berni Hale, a student at Tynemouth College in England and an avid fan of Rennison’s similar works, said that the book is in no way inappropriate and can be entertaining for readers of all ages.
“[Rennison] knows exactly what every teenage girl wants to read, as well as their mother, sisters, aunts and cousins,” Hale said. “I have never laughed so much in my entire life. I reccomend this book to every female on the planet.”
Rennison gained popularity with two previous books about Georgia’s encounters, “Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging” and “On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God.”
