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I'm amazed at how much I liked this book. The new edition's forward by Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, who was the real-life Gidget, puts the story in perspective.

Kathy Kohner was a petite (less than 5 feet tall) perky Jewish girl who became obsessed with surfing back in the days before the Beach Boys started singing about it, before most of America had even heard of the sport. Her actual photo was used on the original book cover and again on the new edition. In the novel, Gidget remains a petite brunette, but I can't recall any mention of being Jewish. (She became a blond in the movie as played by Sandra Dee.) Gidget is not interested in dating, at least not with her high school peers, and she is something of a tomboy. But she also wishes that her "bosom" was bigger. She's on the edge of discovering her sexuality at age 15 and is attracted to the college guys who spend the summer surfing at Malibu, especially one guy named Moondoggie. She also befriends the leader of the group, an older man called the great Kahoona who is a non-collegiate full-time beach bum, and quite proud of it.

With spunk and determination, Gidget ingratiates herself into the group of surfers, who reluctantly - but protectively - accept her as something of a mascot. There's a fascinating tug-of-war between Gidget's growing attraction for Moondoggie and the surfing group's determination to keep hands off.

Gidget is a rebel of the 1950s. She lies to her parents and sneaks out of the house. And what's weird is that all this little rebel wants to do is surf (which was considered a boy's sport) and get pinned (frat pin, that is) by Moondoggie. How it all plays out is well worth the very short read.

An interesting dimension of the story is that the author, Frederick Kohner, was writing the novel about his own daughter with her cooperation - and her actual diaries. Some people will get creeped out that a father was creating a character of his own daughter and writing about her sexuality and her attraction for an older guy. As a writer and father myself, I admit to some queasiness, or at least some curiosity, about the situation. Fred Kohner was a professional writer, a good one, who recognized that the sexuality was the essential part of the story. He also had a PhD from the University of Vienna, the training ground of Sigmund Freud. Kathy Kohner in later life seems to have had no problem with what her father wrote and is in fact quite proud of her role - and interestingly, she was always attracted to professors and eventually married one. Analyze that, if you wish. ( )

"Gidget", written in the 1st person, tells about the summer 15 year old Franzie discovers boys and surfing. Though the book is fiction, the idea came from Frederick Kohner's 15 y.o. daughter, Kathy, who wanted to write about her summer of surfing and boys in Malibu. Frederick Kohner, a Hollywood screenwriter, decided to write it himself and finished the book in 6 weeks according to the preface written by Kathy Kohner. This launched the "Gidget" franchise: movies, the original starring Sandra Dee, and TV show starring a very young Sally Fields. I remember the TV show fondly. What I didn't know is that Frederick Kohner wrote a bunch of sequels to "Gidget." A very easy book to read, it is, overall, fun and light. Two things bothered me about the book. First, the surf slang used by Gidget is over the top. After a while, Gidget's "voice" sounds very forced and artificial. Secondly, the paperback is filled with pictures of Kathy Kohner at the beach with a surfboard, and publicity shots of Kathy and her father (at a book signing and in front of a bookstore window filled with "Gidget" books.) Obviously, the novel is fiction, but because of all the pictures, and the foreword, and knowledge that Kohner based his tale on his daughter's own experiences, reading in the first person about Gidget's clumsy attempts at sex and her overall horniness, written by the father of the original Gidget (Gidget was Kathy's nickname among the surfing crowd) is a little disturbing. ( )

The Little Bookworm

Franzie is a typical 16 year old girl. When she is one day rescued by a handsome surfer, Moondoggie, she decides she wants to learn how to surf. Made one of the gang by the local surfer boys who nickname her Gidget (girl-midget), she falls in love with Moondoggie and, most of all, with surfing.

Written in 1957, Gidget was written by Frederick Kohner for his daughter, Kathy. Based on her adventures with surfing, Gidget was the first book to deal with a girl learning to surf which was almost unheard of at that time. It was followed by five sequels and two novelizations of the subsequent movies. I knew of Gidget from the Sandra Dee movie which I love a lot and had no idea it was based on a book until recently. The movie follows the basic plot of the book, but cleaned up since there is more talk of sex and drinking and smoking in the book. And while it's not on the Gossip Girl level, there is certain more sex talk than I expected in a 1957 book. But then when you are dealing with college age boys, what else would you expect.

Gidget and Moondoggie (Jeff)'s relationship is odd. She doesn't pay much attention to him at first, thinking he is handsome but very focused on surfing. But after a dream about kissing him, she begins to fall in love. He, on the other hand, doesn't know what to do since she is so young (he thinks she is 17, she is really 15). But they work it at in the end. The ending is very empowering for Gidget as she defies the boys and learns to surf. ( )

top teenage book of all time for me. this book is so much deeper and darker than you can ever imagine. it's not prime time sunny beachy peachy stuff at all. it's the true story of teenagerhood and unrequited love and the pain of growing up. i can't recommend it highly enough. ( )