Rating: 
Summary: Charming!
Review: this was such a sweet book and so easy to read. I thought it was very cleverly written and will pass this on to my best friend. This would be a perfect book to read at the beach! I would have given it 41/2stars but thats not an option.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny and truthful...
Review: Although the people in her life are not always around when she needs them, Elizabeth is always there for them. Whether it is her somewhat absent mother, a previously absent father whom she has a struggling relationship with, a VERY absent best friend, or a stranger who is only a pen pal, Elizabeth can always be counted on to be there for them. In fact, she will often go to extremes to support her friends and family.When the novel begins, Elizabeth is concerned because her best friend has run away again. Granted, Celia is always pulling stunts like this. However, this time Celia didn't let Elizabeth know where she was going, which is very unusual. Eventually Elizabeth learns that Celia has joined the circus and is somewhat relieved. But then things start to turn sinister for her friend, and Elizabeth is soon off to rescue her. To Elizabeth this rescue mission will just concluded another chapter in Celia's adventurous life. Little does she know that it will start a new chapter in her own life. I LOVED this novel!!! Recommended to me by a friend, I found this book to be both humorous and truthful. The novel consists entirely of letters to and from Elizabeth. These letters take many forms. Some are traditional letters written between her and a pen pal at another school. Other notes are messages between Elizabeth and her mother that often reside on their kitchen refrigerator. Elizabeth also receives "helpful" notes from imaginary organizations like "The Society of People who are Definitely Going to Fail High School (and most probably Life as Well)," "The Best Friends Club," "The Association of Teenagers," and "The Cold Hard Truth Association." Through these letters and notes we get an accurate picture of Elizabeth's life and the people in it. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book!
Review: This is a great book for women of all ages. The entire book is written in letters, either from real people, or the Imaginary organizations like the Association of Teenagers (trust me, it makes sense in the book) It tells the story of Elizabeth, and her dealings with her parents (who are divorced), with her best friend, Celia, and a new pen-pal, Christina. Elizabeth's mother is loving, but often gone (but leaves hilarious notes to her daughter. Celia, her best friend, actually ran off to the circus. Her father is a bit of a lout, and the guy Elizabeth likes, likes Celia more. The only real constant in her life right now is Christina. This book is hilarious, exploring the difficulties of growing up with humor and grace. Elizabeth and Christina are like every 15 year old, just a little bit cooler. I *loved* this book (and I'm hard to please).
Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK IS A GOOD WAY TO LOSE SLEEP!!!
Review: I bought this book one afternoon on a whim because the story sounded cute and the book's colors were so appealing. Never did I imagine that once I started the book, I would not be able to put it down until I had finished!! The format was so unique- letters to and from the character Elizabeth to/from real and imagined people. The story was like putting Judy Blume, Marian Keyes and Helen Fielding in a blender and coming out with a tale of present day adolescence. I laughed, got mad and cried-the whole gammit of emotions and truly, truly loved Elizabeth and Christina. Can't wait to pass it along to my niece!
Rating:
Summary: adolescent angst
Review: This is a book for teenage girls along the lines of "Angus, Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging". It was reviewed very positively in Seventeen, which certainly will bring it a wide readership. This Aussie version of teenage woes is heart felt. The very nice 16 year old Liz is perhaps too good to be true: she may think she's not pretty, but she is, she's smart, loyal and nice, and a long distance runner as well!(maybe just a bit of a gag there). However, her daily torments are the real thing. For instance, she has a really wild and crazy (and beautiful) friend (Celia of the title) whom the boys like best - and this is hard for Liz. I could see that coming miles away, but teenagers can't - many really are shocked/hurt when their best friends leave them for a boy. Liz is a good role model - she's stalwart and true, good to her friends, and without being mean to anyone, manages to find a modicum of happiness by the end of the book (and she finds a boy too - hey, listen, that's what makes teenage girls happy). It's an upbeat book, with a few real laughs and even a few tears. I agree with Mr. Nix - should be a hit for the teenage crowd. P.S., my 13 year old likes it very much.
Rating:
Summary: Dear Reader, You Will Enjoy This Book
Review: If you are a fan of books like Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, this similarly told tale will appeal to you. Presented through a series of letters to a from her best friend, her mother, and a new pen pal from a nearby school, this is a light, funny story about Elizabeth Clarry, who lives with her mother and endures visits from her father. Her best friend, Celia, pulls frequent disappearing acts, engaging in all sorts of bizarre adventures; her mother recruits her help in thinking up slogans for odd products, school seems pointless, and her gorgeous crush seems to have fallen for a most inconvenient--and unfair--other woman. Her letters to her new pen pal, Christina, reveal her troubles in a lighthearted way, and the story is never a serious examination of teenage angst, but it is fun nonetheless. Some of the letters seemed forced--action that "showed" the story rather than "told" it would have worked better; it's hard to believe that a character would communicate with her mother only through letters when they live in the same house. The strange letters from various societies--the Society of Best Friends, the Society of Teenagers, etc. are clever. Many of the plot twists are implausible, and the "mystery" surrounding her father's behavior is fairly predictable, but I had a lot of fun enjoyed the story and recommend it to readers looking for light reads similar to Angus, Thongs...by Louise Rennison; Truth or Dairy by Catherine Clark or even Bridget Joneses' Diary by Helen Fielding.
Rating:
Summary: Letters, we get letters
Review: Once you get used to the fact that Celia gets "letters" from her mind, a real pen pal, her best friend and her mother, you can get absorbed into her typical and not-so-typical teenage angst. It is a real treat to read the notes her advertising copywriter mother leaves on the refrigerator and other strategic spots around the house; although Celia is often less than delighted with them!
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible, Terrible, Terrible....
Review: Poorly written, lame, boring, unoriginal... this book is EXTREMELY overrated and obviously Australia doesn't have many good writers! The book is about Elizabeth, "Libby" as her mother calls her, and her random notes to her mother, 'an absolute stranger' and something called the "best friends society".. the whole book is full of ruddy 'notes'! i enjoy randomness, find it humorous, but this book was just boring. If you're interested in the shallow, 'highschool' books at least go for well written ones, i recommend sloppy firsts and the gossip girl series, if you're searching for something AMAZING to read, try Harry Potter if you haven't already and try Cirque du Freak. It's a shame b/c I was excited about this book and because it has been praised so much i figured it would be good. It is supposed to be a 'coming of age tale' but it's just boring and pointless. I am an avid reader and let me tell you, this is by far the worst book I've ever read.. It's so redundant I honestly don't know how the author got her book produced... It's childish, lame and an utter dissapointment. (...)
Rating:
Summary: A coming of age story
Review: I thought this book was brilliant. It had been suggested to me before, but i had never wanted to read it. When I did, I really connected with Elizabeth, because who hasn't felt like everyone's depending on them? The letters and notes in this book let you look at the story from a different angle, it was humourous, and it was touching. I get tired of reading "high school books" with either no depth, or lots of melodrama. I read this book when i was fifteen and i felt like i was reading about me.
I also think Australia has a lot of fantastic writers, and it's pretty arrogant to say that they don't when you've only read one book. (for example, read Love, Ghosts and Facial Hair)
Rating:
Summary: Though not as good as T.Y.O.S.A, but great book!!!
Review: As I'm typing this I'm at the last page of Feeling Sorry For Celia. I think it's a wonderful book. This is not another teen book (ha! like that movie, Not Another Teen Movie!). The unique thing about it is made entirely of letters and notes. It's about an Australian teenager, Elizabeth Clarry, who writes letters to a girl named Christina as a school project, to recieve a great friendship! She and her mother communicate by notes on the fridge, which are shared in the story. The strangest thing is that there's also 'letters' from fake organizations, like the Association of Teenagers, The COLD HARD TRUTH society, and the Young Romance Society. Sort of like alter egos. This book is packed wih action, including problems with a very strange, wild, and often unrational friend, a wacky mother, a dad who left Elizabeth and her mom when she was small, a running marathon, and of course, boys. This is a very real story, almost perfectly matching the lives of teenagers today-though maybe a little crazier! I personally liked Jaclyn Moriarty's other book(The Year of Secret Assignments) better, but yet I don't think this book deserves less than 5 stars. This is a book you can't put down, I would've read it in one sitting if I could. This is definitely worth reading!
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