Biffle's Text Message For Ttyl

Ttyl by Lauren Myracle is about three best friends who share their highs and lows of their Sophomore year together through text messages. One of the three girls who is named Angel, via text message referred to as Snow Angel, is a bright and bubbly girl who reflects most of her time thinking about boys. Another girl named Maddie or as mad Maddie via text messages is brave and spends most of her time trying to change her life, so Jana, the “queen bee” who attends their school, can be out of her life and school. The last girl is named Zoe, or via text message known as Zoe girl, is responsible when it comes to school, life, or religion, but is concentrated about her teacher, Mr. H in affectionate ways which are wrong because he is nine years older than her and he is her teacher. During the beginning of the book, Angela goes through a phase where she thinks that she is in love with a boy
named Rob who turns out to be a jerk that cheats on her with Angela’s enemy, Tonnie. Angela is heartbroken, but is still convinced that Rob is the perfect guy whom she loves and wants to go all the way with, despite her friends telling her a million times that they do not approve. Zoe and Maddie are annoyed with Angela’s decision but still try and to support her through this rough time until she gets over him. Another hardship they faced was when Mr. H was hitting on Zoe and eventually trying to get her to be affectionate with him. Zoe likes the idea of being involved with an older man but when he invites her over to go in the hot tub and whispered that she would look lovely in a bikini, she gets freaked out and asked her friends for help. The friends tried to support her through the process, knowing that it was a bad decision, but when Zoe needed their help, they were right on it and ended up saving Zoe from her teacher. Throughout the numerous text messages, the three best friends go through some rough times, such as dealing with broken hearts, perverted teachers, backstabbing “friends,” and stubborn families but they find a way to look past it and to sustain their lifelong friendship.
Although this book got across a relatable storyline, it did have various reasons to be banned such as its offensive language, racist remarks, and bad decisions. For example, Maddie made a bad decision when she went to a college party, got drunk and woke up the next morning with a different shirt and no bra. This sent out a bad message about underage drinking and ideas for other Sophomores to follow. Also, the friends continually talked using offensive language which was showed on most every page. They use inappropriate words to describe simple topics such as their day at school or even the clothes they are going to wear the next day. This also gave the idea to kids that it is not disrespectful to use bad language when talking to their friends.
Despite all the reasons the book was banned, it did teach some valuable lessons.
The book showed different scenarios that normal sophomores could go through and how to deal with the problem, even if it is a bad decision. Not only did it show how to deal with life situations, but the book also showed you have to fix them next time and do better. It also teaches how to maintain a friendship through a rough high school year which features a lot of drama. It shows how strong friendship can be, and no matter what happens to one another, one always needs to be there to support his/her friends and have their backs. The book was an easy read that showed one a storyline of a relatable concept that gave signs to look out for such as friends who leave a person alone in a car while they make one break the law or when the same friend forced Maddie consume a drink at a party that tastes odd. I enjoyed the book, but I felt like the foul language was unnecessary, and I also feel like they should take it out because more people need to read this book while not being cautious of it being
banned.