Away Laughing On A Fast Camel (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
Have you ever wondered how it is to be in high school with all the drama and comedy? Away Laughing On A Fast Camel by Louise Rennison is a book filled with both drama and comedy. This realistic fiction book is great if you love to hear secrets only best friends will know.In the story Georgia Nicolson is always hanging out in her room. She's always thinking up ideas on how to get the likes to like her. She comes up with the craziest ideas like putting on fake eyelashes and tons of glue on them that her eyes shut close! After she gets these crazy ideas she always talks about it the next day at school with her best pals. They always meet up at the science block to have a meeting with the group. Since she lives in England she speaks very differently than we do. Georgia wanted to go with her boyfriend Robbie to New Zealand because he was part of the band as the lead singer and he started touring, but he started liking it in New Zealand and decided to stay there and leave the band. So Georgia had to stay in England really sad that Robbie left her and broke up with her to live in New Zealand and the band replaced him with a new lead singer who was Italian named Masimo which made her come up with crazy ideas to make her fall in love with her. But there was one thing that was in her way to get him to like her and only her, since Masimo was the lead singer of a popular band she had a lot of girls to compete with. So she had started coming up with ideas with her mates to make him fall in love with her. In the end when Masimo asked Georgia to go out with him to the movies she started thinking “Finally he likes me!” but then he the next day he tells her “See you round when I get back from America”. After he told her the news she felt sad that finally he starts liking her he goes off to America to tour around. As soon as she was becoming sad her Mom and Dad come in her room and tell her that they’re going to America. She was so happy that they were going to America that she decided to take her best friend Jas with her, and surprisingly both their parents said yes! So they came up with a plan for no reason. So off to America they’re going.In the story I wish that the author would’ve put the part of Robbie coming back to England just as soon as Georgia started liking Masimo because this would’ve put a lot of drama in the story. If this was added the story this would make Georgia so confused about her feelings for both of the guys. She would later have to make a decision of with who she likes better and who is better for her. This would make the story more interesting and also would add another conflict to the story. it would have the readers on the edge of their seats and making them go “What?!” or “Why!?” I liked the way the author had put a glossary at the end of the book because there are some words in the book that Georgia had made up. It makes Georgia seem to be very creative when it comes to making up words and making up things. Also it shows that she has imagination when she’s going to be creative. The glossary makes reading the book more easily knowing the words that she had made up.I was surprised when Georgia’s best friend Jas said to her that her boyfriend Tom (also brother of Robbie) was going away to New Zealand for 6 months. This surprised me because Jas and Tom are always together and they’re in separable. After found that out she was really sad and all she ever talked about was Tom. They weren’t breaking up, it was just that Tom was going away to see his brother. Jas would come to Georgia for advice and Georgia had wisdom for a few minutes. The structure of the book is in a way of a diary of Georgia Nicolson because it actually gives out the experiences that Georgia has had throughout her life in high school. Also I liked the structure of the book because it really felt as if Georgia was writing this because it had so much creativity with the plot of the story and the way it was written.I give this book a 4 out of 5 because there was very good drama in it, but I would add a bit more conflict in the story. I would recommend this book for people who love to read about drama and a bit of comedy. Away Laughing On A Fast Camel will leave you laughing and make you say “Why?!” making you want to read the next book.
Genre: teenage angst, coming of age, relationships, etcSummary: more confessions, same story, same characters. Oh, excuse me, there is a new character, Massimo, the new lead singer of the Stiff Dylans. Of course, he's creamy dreamy, of course Georgia falls madly in love, but whenever she is around him, all she can think of is...nothing. Her mind goes out the window. Fortunately, Dave the Laugh is there to coach her in the ways of getting a man. And of course, whenever they are together, they must snog. So much kissing. Response: I just want Georgia to GROW UP. I can't take much more of this. I bought the movie, which was based on the first two books, and Georgia grows up more in that movie than she does in the five books I've read so far. Plus, I listened to this book, narrated by the author, which you know, was fun and interesting but come on. After every book, I become this whiny teenager again (not that my family notices a difference, mind you). Sometimes it's more fun than other times. I just want Georgia to wake up, realize that Dave the Laugh is the one for her and forget about playing the field and raging against her parents. However, I read some reviews of the last book, and I have a feeling that I may be disappointed. I think the concept of a teenage girl's diary is a good one, but dragging it on for so long might be a bit much. The audience will only pay attention to a character that doesn't change for only so long.
What do You think about Away Laughing On A Fast Camel (2004)?
I read this as a pre-teen and loved it - it ended up completely tattered because I'd re-read it so many times! Interestingly I didn't enjoy the other Rennison 'Georgia Nicolson' novels so much, and I can't really put my finger on why. This one had me laughing out loud though, and as a pre-teen it was kind of educational (ha!) It got me thinking about boys and social situations and that sort of thing anyway!The best thing about this sort of book for a young adult is that they enjoy them, which develops their reading skills and they are then likely to go on and read more. So this kind of light-hearted, chick-lit type novel is really important in getting young people to love reading. Well done Rennison!
—Annabel
Ok, lets forget for the moment, that I read this series in the wrong order and have in actual fact, read book number 6 before book number 5, and just review the book despite my pitiful numeracy skills.Recovering from my experiences with my last book, I decided the best way to avoid a book funk, was to immerse myself in a something that was light hearted and girly. And as always this series and author delivered it by the truck load. Once again Louise Rennison delivers a flawless novel, managing to balance perfectly, humour and real teen issues in a perfect blend.In this instalment we see Georgia picking herself up after Robbie has headed off to New Zealand, and potentially hooking up with a new love interest.They are so easy to read and although they are not really designed to be read by my age group I use them as a way of clearing my head after a particularly long, boring or bad read, A kind of mental cleanser. I recommend these books to anyone, well, mostly females of course for obvious reasons. They are fun, light hearted and I imagine almost everyone has found themselves feeling the way Georgia does at least once in their lives. I think everyone much have had a friend like Jas. The dizzy friend who infuriates you so quickly, but because we all know a 'Jas' we can't dislike her on principle.Will be carrying on with this series immediately.
—Pearl
Poor Georgia. Her boyfriend went to New Zealand and then broke up with her long distance, so she's heartbroken and convinced she will Never Love Again. It's awfully difficult to keep up her cold shoulder when Robbie's replacement in the band, Masimo, appears and begins to flirt with her. She can hardly believe her luck, but is this actually what she wants? He's delicious! But! What's a girl with the Cosmic Horn to do?This one was particularly funny to me--more so than the previous ones, though I'm not sure why. It's more of the same--Georgia relating anecdotes of her cat, her sister, the jerks at school, and her troubles with boys, all coated in her ridiculously rude storytelling style. She makes fun of herself and talks down to herself all the time, but both her interactions with others and some of her actions suggest self-confidence (or at least the appearance of it) as she frequently insults others' intelligence and looks down on people she doesn't respect (including teachers). The glossary, as always, is one of the best parts.
—Julie Decker
