The ttyl Series

The ttyl Series - ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r - is a trilogy of teen novels written by Lauren Myracle, notable for being written completely in Instant Messages between our heroines. The books chronicle the lives of Madigan "mad maddie" Kinnick, Zoe "zoegirl" Barrett, and Angela "SnowAngel" Silver, starting with their sophomore year and ending with graduation.

The series has come under fire for some mature content and language, but overall, it's fairly realistic in its portrayal of teens.


 * Alpha Bitch: Jana Whitaker, the Dragon Lady herself, and to a lesser extent, "superficial psycho-slut" Tonnie Wyndham.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Maddie on why Angela was better off without Rob: "He treated you like dirt. He's a dick. And he looks like David Spade."
 * Chekhov's Boomerang: In ttyl, Jana takes some...incriminating...photos of Maddie at a party, and passes them to everyone in the school, thoroughly humiliating her. Then, in l8r, g8r, Jana brings the pictures back into the public eye...by way of a Craigslist "Casual Encounters" ad. Complete with Maddie's phone number.
 * Dogged Nice Guy: Doug, in ttyl anyway.
 * Compliment Backfire: When Angela catches her boyfriend cheating on her, her mother tries to comfort her by saying "he's probably the sort of boy who only cares about appearances."
 * Education Mama: Mrs. Barrett certainly qualifies, especially in the last book, though it's arguable if she truly thinks Zoe would be better off at Princeton or if she's just a pretentious snob who doesn't want her daughter at a local college.
 * Hot for Student: Zoe's English teacher Mr. H in the first book, starting innocently enough when he takes her to a church group. Although she enjoys the attention at first, it keeps escalating in creepiness to the point where she finds herself hot-tubbing with him - and not at all sure she's as comfortable with him as she used to be.
 * In Love with Love: Angela. Zoe even mentions this.
 * Painting the Medium: Not only is the story told through instant message, each girl has a different typeface, and the pages themselves are framed with an IM window.
 * Title Drop: In every book, generally at the very end.