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    Feeling Sorry for Celia: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Feeling Sorry for Celia: A Novel
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    Feeling Sorry for Celia: A Novel
    Ebook248 pages3 hours

    Feeling Sorry for Celia: A Novel

    By Jaclyn Moriarty

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A #1 Bestseller in Australia and Book Sense 76 Pick

    Life is pretty complicated for Elizabeth Clarry. Her best friend Celia keeps disappearing, her absent father suddenly reappears, and her communication with her mother consists entirely of wacky notes left on the fridge. On top of everything else, because her English teacher wants to rekindle the "Joy of the Envelope," a Complete and Utter Stranger knows more about Elizabeth than anyone else.

    But Elizabeth is on the verge of some major changes. She may lose her best friend, find a wonderful new friend, kiss the sexiest guy alive, and run in a marathon.
    So much can happen in the time it takes to write a letter...

    A #1 bestseller in Australia, this fabulous debut is a funny, touching, revealing story written entirely in the form of letters, messages, postcards—and bizarre missives from imaginary organizations like The Cold Hard Truth Association.

    Feeling Sorry for Celia captures, with rare acuity, female friendship and the bonding and parting that occurs as we grow. Jaclyn Moriarty's hilariously candid novel shows that the roller coaster ride of being a teenager is every bit as fun as we remember—and every bit as harrowing.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJun 17, 2014
    ISBN9781466873773
    Unavailable
    Feeling Sorry for Celia: A Novel
    Author

    Jaclyn Moriarty

    Jaclyn Moriarty grew up in Sydney, Australia and studied in the United States and England. She spent four years working as a media and entertainment lawyer and is now writing full time. Jaclyn is the author of bittersweet teen bestsellers FEELING SORRY FOR CELIA, FINDING CASSIE CRAZY and BECOMING BINDY MACKENZIE.

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    Reviews for Feeling Sorry for Celia

    4/5

    302 ratings21 reviews

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    • 5/5
      It's such a fast paced book, I love how it is in letter format too!
    • 5/5
      Couldn’t put it down. Jaclyn Moriarty has a way of drawing attention to what has been hiding in plain sight in a fresh, unexpected way. She makes me tear up, then laugh out loud and I gobble up her stories. Feeling sorry for Celia’s protagonist is every teenage girl. I loved the unique notes and postcards literary structure - took me back to high school in a unique kind of way.
    • 4/5
      Very cute book. I loved Elizabeth and her mom, and ended up not feeling all that sorry for Celia. The devise of using letters, notes, and postcards to tell the story was very interesting, and made for an interesting look into the life of a teenager. (One who isn't in love with any supernatural creatures at that!)
    • 3/5
      Light, fluffy YA fun.

      I loved Elizabeth Clarry, her writing and her family, and I loved that even though she had her doubts about whether she was doing teenager-hood "right", she still embraced her hobbies and talents and personality.

      Although... there's some darker themes hinted at here, and I think Moriarty's reluctance to address them is a weakness. Why did Celia run away? Why is her mother so slack? Are we gonna mention the rapey circus manager? Suicide pacts? What?

      For all that Celia is the title character, the book's not really about her, and she remains a shadowy and confusing figure until the end. This book is about Elizabeth and Christina (definitely not Tina) and their friendship is super sweet. Elizabeth's life gets tied up a-little-too-neatly at the end, but sometimes a happy ending isn't a bad thing.
    • 5/5
      Another reread of an old favorite. I love epistolary books anyhow, and this one is particularly amusing with letters from little clubs and societies that don't exist. I really enjoy the localized Australian content in the book, which might make it difficult for some American readers, but serves to really set the narrative. Beyond that, the descriptions of what each character is going through are very realistic and thoroughly engaging.
    • 4/5
      Dear Lauren,Didn't Elizabeth's dog die when she went on a trip? Think about that next time you go anywhere.Love, your beloved Chihuahua SeamusFeeling sorry for Celia was a lovely book about the complications of relationships. Elizabeth Clarry's teacher has assigned them to write to kids from another school to rediscover the joys of letters in envelopes.This book was in it's own way hearkening back to a time where everyone wasn't texting while talking to someone else. The book was published in 2000 when people did email but twitter and Facebook hadn't happened.I can only imagine the drama Christina's friend Maddie would've brought on with those tools. Celia might have had a harder time disappearing though. Maddie sounds like the sort of girl who would be texting others while your talking or interrupt you mid-sentence to call someone else.This story was a shining example on how meaningful a penpal friendship can be. Celia was self absorbed and selfish. She represented a true account of how manic depressives can be on those who love them. They can be exciting but not reliable and you can never do enough for them.The teenage association letters were cruel. My mom once told me when I was a teen that I didn't lead an exciting enough life. She took off with boys to led Zeppelin concerts in other states at age thirteen. I listened to the cure and the Smiths while reading books. No arrests for skipping school or fake seizures to rob drugstores for me. My aunt was pretty wild.Teen movies have a way of glamourising that age. There just isn't time to have an active social life, school, work, family, data, etc. and be perfect.This book got that perfect.My mom told us "whatever you want to fix" was for dinner so Elizabeth's mum didn't seem that bad to me. I find the helicopter parenting strange. Celia's mother would be arrested for neglect in America. Elizabeth's mom seemed normal to me.
    • 5/5
      Jaclyn Moriarty's hilariously candid novel shows that the roller coaster ride of being a teenager is every bit as fun as it is harrowing.So, as you might have read, this novel is not written in tipical narrative. Instead it follows Elizabeth's life through hilarious notes from her crazy mother, heartfelt letters exchanged to her new pen-pal and outragious letters sent from societies such as "The Association of Teenagers" expressing what she is thinking. I absolutely positively loved this book, and cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of her series, and her other book, The Spellbook of Listen Taylor. Jaclyn Moriarty creates such delightful, witty, and entertaining characters that are hard not to love, and just an overall spectacular novel.
    • 5/5
      Elizabeth's relationship with her mother is limited to fridge note, her inner teen is sending her warning letters, and now her teacher has forced a pen pal down her throat. If only her missing best friend would send her a letter, instead of forcing her to rely on a complete stranger. This was funny, endearing, tender, Australian, unpredictable, and satisfying. I'd give this to fans of realistic school stories, especially comic ones. And while this was thoroughly entertaining, it was't fluff, I keep thinking about Elizabeth and her friends and family long after finishing the book. I am happy to see it it part of a series, hurrah!
    • 4/5
      Feeling Sorry for Celia was a very easy read. It was so entertaining. This book is written entirely in the form of letters, which is such a unique idea and it made things so much more personal and easy to read. Eliabeth has such an interesting life. Her personality is so entertaining. I wish she would be my best friend! Elizabeth starts writing to a student, Christina, who attends the public school three blocks away from the private school that she attends. While reading the letters to Christina we learn that Elizabeth's best friend Celia has a habit of running away in the middle of the night and has recently done just that. She has not contacted Elizabeth with her whereabouts and Celia's mother is not nearly as concerned as you would think she would be. Along with letters to and from Christina, there are letters from an anonymous boy on her bus, letters from to and from her mother stuck to the fridge with magnets, and letters from made-up societys such as The Association of Teenagers and The Cold Hard Truth Association. There are so many eccentric characters and just enough mystery that I couldn't wait to find out what happened on the next page! With Celia running away, then coming back, then running away again it was always a guess as to what was going to happen. This book has comedy, tragedy, family drama, and even a touch of espionage. It is a very entertaining read that I recommend to anyone.
    • 4/5
      I thought Feeling Sorry for Celia, to be a very funny read. This book is completely made up of letters and notes, that depict the life of a teenager named Elisabeth Clarry. Life is not easy for Elisabeth Clarry, as her friend Celia has disappered, her absent father reappers in her life, and she mostly communicates with her mother through notes. I was able to relate to the issues of Eliasbeth's life, when nothing in your life seems to make sense. Feeling Sorry for Celia has won many awards including, a White Ravens selection, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, a BookSense 76 Pick, a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book, and winner in 2001 of the Ethel Turner prize.
    • 5/5
      I loved the book Feeling sorry for Celia because it has a amazing plot about Elizabeth's friendship, family, school life and her secret admirer. I also love the way the book was written. The story is told by letters between Elizabeth and her pen pal Christina, notes between Elizabeth and her mom, postcards from Celia and messages from societies such as "The Cold Hard Truth Association".( Which I think the societies are imaginary from Elizabeth's head.) The book is all in a form of a letters which is so cool. It always makes you feel that you are in the book, experiencing what Elizabeth goes through and goes in a way where you never expect it to go.
    • 4/5
      I remember really, really loving this book. I guess I'll have to revisit it and see what was so phenomenal to my sixth grade self.
    • 5/5
      A comedy of errors featuring Elizabeth, the main character; her pen pal Christine; her parents, an no-longer-absent father and a hilarious mother; her runaway best friend Celia; Celia's new boyfriend; the boy leaving Elizabeth anonymous notes on the bus; and a mysterious stepbrother. The story is told entirely through the notes, letters, and postcards the characters write to each other (along with some letters Elizabeth imagines people should be writing to her, from the Association of Teenagers and COLD HARD TRUTH Association). At times I thought it was a little cutesy, but I laughed out loud more than once and had a smile on my face for ninety percent of the book. Definitely recommended.
    • 4/5
      PLUS - * I first read this book several years ago when it was first published in the UK. I know I enjoyed it then, and have loved rereading it recently. It's nice when that happens!* Our heroine Elizabeth receives and writes lots of letters - she has a school project penpal at another school, a mother who communicates via fridge door notes, and a runaway best friend who sends postcards. What really adds to this book though are Elizabeth's own musings on life which take the form of letters from imaginary organisations such as the 'Cold Hard Truth Association', 'Best Friends Club' and the 'Young Romance Association'. * It's a great coming of age novel - family relationships change (in unexpected ways!), friendships come and go, there's a bit of romance and a growing self awareness. MINUS - * First published in 2000 I think it has dated a little - it all letters and notes. I guess if it was written now there may be more texts and emails, especially when Elizabeth is trying to contact her missing friend Celia. OVERALL -* It is teenage chick-lit and is a light read, but it's funny, quirky and very entertaining. It's the first in a sequence of related books (not a traditional series) with overlapping characters and I'm off now to read some of the others.
    • 3/5
      A cute epistolatory novel around an Australian teen named Elizabeth Clearry... whose 1) quixotic best friend has run away to join the circus, 2) busy mom communicates to her through refrigerator notes, 3) absentee dad is suspiciously trying to reconnect, and 4) English teacher is initiating a penpal project with a neighboring public school.Most of fun comes from the ways Jaclyn Moriarty bends the format. Besides the aforementioned 'fridge notes (and the letters to and from her new penpal Christina), the book also is plenty populated with Elizabeth's mental correspondence from such bodies as the 'Association of Teenagers', the 'Society of Amateur Detectives', and the 'COLD HARD TRUTH ASSOCIATION'. Hey, if you pick up this book, you probably know what you're in for, and out of this genre, I think it's a fairly innocuous and clever entry. It doesn't quite stick the landing, as some of the resolutions are a little ... constrained by the structure and thereby not fully developed. But it's easily forgiven by the generally believable teenage voice (in that incredibly trendy way, however, that I don't think ages particularly well). Overall, an easy enjoyable read.A truth: I kept having that nagging feeling of deja vu while I was reading, and some of the plot development. Whether or not I *have* read Feeling Sorry for Celia before, familiarity probably doesn't say good things about its memorability.
    • 3/5
      I love love Moriarty. But "A Year of Secret Assignments" is still my favorite. This one has the same wit and empathy in a series of letters (yes, an entire book in ONLY letters and emails) but with far fewer characters; more personal yet somehow less funny.
    • 3/5
      I love love Moriarty. But "A Year of Secret Assignments" is still my favorite. This one has the same wit and empathy in a series of letters (yes, an entire book in ONLY letters and emails) but with far fewer characters; more personal yet somehow less funny.
    • 5/5
      i read this in one night it was so good, I love moriatry's works (year of secret assignments, the death of bindie mackenzie) I love how it's written all in letter with several different plots that fit together nicely ina really laugh out loud way.
    • 4/5
      I like how it's written entirely in letters. I really did laugh out loud several times while reading, which is fun to do.
    • 5/5
      In Moriarty's three books (Feeling Sorry for Ceclia, The Year of Secret Assignments, and The Murder of Bindy MacKenzie) she focuses on a few girls from the same high school. In Feeling Sorry for Celia -- I liked seeing the world through Elizabeth Clarry, and all of the quirky characters around her. Its written in letters from Elizabeth's private school English class to a girl in the local public school. Very clever and witty book.
    • 5/5
      Elizabeth Clarry is not your average private school teenage girl. In fact, she’s anything but. Her favorite hobby is long-distance running. She communicates with her mom through notes left on the refrigerator. Her one and only friend is Celia Buckley, who has a bad habit of running away for weeks at a time.In the midst of Celia’s latest escapade, Elizabeth’s English teacher sets up a pen-pal project with the public school down the road. The last thing Elizabeth wants to do is to be forced to communicate with a total stranger, but she soon discovers that writing to her pen-pal, Christina, is actually a nice retreat from her increasingly hectic life. Her dad, who ran off with another woman when she was just a baby, has now returned to Australia to work and is interested in bonding with his daughter.As things with Celia get more and more interesting, Elizabeth is forced to reconsider her friendships. Maybe it’s time for her to grow on. Luckily she’s got Christina, her mom, and an anonymous admirer to make the way easier for her!It’s impossible to sum up this amazing book in a few sentences. Let’s just say that this is one of my all-time favorite books, and I’ll never get sick of it. Told entirely in letters and notes, FEELING SORRY FOR CELIA will make readers laugh, cry, and wish they could be part of Elizabeth’s crazy but wonderfully interesting life.