YA Author Louise Rennison Passes Away at 63

Louise Rennison, author of Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging and The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series, passed away on Monday, according to her publisher, HarperCollins UK. The publisher released the following statement, “Nobody wrote for teenagers like she did, she understood them, their lives and their extraordinary and powerful friendships “In life, as in her writing, she brought joy and laughter. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and the readers whose lives she has touched for almost 20 years.”

Born in Leeds in 1951, Rennison attended school in New Zealand. She returned to the UK and began to pursue her dream of acting. Rennison was a writer and comedian, and she toured England for many years performing a one-woman show which she wrote and starred in called “Stevie Wonder Touched My Face” before embarking on a career in radio and television. She was approached to write a teenage girl’s diary after an article of hers was viewed as “self obsessed and childish” and she would therefore “do a really good job.” Rennison based Georgia on her 14-year-old self. “I wrote the book to make myself laugh,” Rennison wrote. “I always wrote what I remembered making me laugh when I was that age. I didn’t attempt to teach. I didn’t attempt to do anything except I wanted Georgia to be a decent person. I wanted her to be someone who is a bit stupid and self-obsessed and difficult and funny and rude, and a bit jealous, and all those other things. But I wanted her to have a good heart.”

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging and its first sequel, It’s Ok, I’m Wearing Really Big Knickers, were adapted into the 2008 film ,Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging. But it’s Rennison’s unforgettable characters, like Georgia’s loves Robbie the Sex God and Dave the Laugh, and her nemesis Wet Lindsay that fans remember most. Recently, Rennison had created a new series, The Misadventures of Tallulah Casey, which was into its third installment, The Taming of the Tights. Rennison had a knack for catchy, clever titles as well as hilarious content.

Colleagues and other authors and publishers took to social media to express their grief. Her death made headlines in Time Magazine and Entertainment Weekly. Her website released the following statement: “It is with huge sadness that we can confirm the death of our much loved author and friend, Louise Rennison. In life, as in her writing, she brought joy and laughter. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and you readers whose lives she touched. As the Ace Gang would say…”let your creativitosity run wild and free!””