#edward koren

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

A cartoon by Edward Koren, from 2019. #NewYorkerCartoons

[bebe-benzenheimer]

Edward Koren, 1978, Is It Funny?

[drilpencils]

(art by edward koren, caption by dril)

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Teen Throwback Thursday: Teenage Romance: Or, How to Die of Embarrassment by Delia Ephron, with drawings by Edward Koren

For today's Teen Throwback Thursday post, I'll be sharing a book that is almost impossible to find nowadays. You might have to go through an out-of-print bookseller, or you might have to go through WorldCat to see if there's a copy at a library that's willing to send a copy to YOUR library.

But in the meantime, I still have MY copy that I got back in the 1980s, and which had a formative influence on my childhood, so that's what I'm going to share today!

Just looking at the table of contents tells you that this book is going to share stories about all different kinds of teenage problems (most of which I hadn't actually experienced when I first read this book):

There was a great mix of humor in Ephron's writing and Koren's artwork, working hand-in-hand on topics like How to Hide a Pimple:

While some sections went over my head when I first read them, others made a lot of sense to me even as a child. The section called "How to Talk To Your Mother" spoke to me on a primal level:

In rereading this book now, I'm definitely more likely to spot the parts that are dated, like bringing record albums to a party, or thinking that John Travolta is sexy (my apologies, Mr. Travolta, but, you know ... the years haven't been kind to any of us ...)

NOTE TO SELF: Start using the word "hideola" in conversations!

This was also the book that made me a big fan of Edward Koren's drawings, and which made me think, hey, maybe I could draw!!! Fun fact: for many years after I read this book, my drawings looked very scraggly and scruffy, like this:

One of the best things about this book was that it really embodied all the highs and ALL the lows of the teenage experience!!!

While the NYPL system unfortunately doesn't own Teenage Romance, you CAN check out more books and movies written by Delia Ephron and books illustrated by Edward Koren!

[lyssahumana]

[khymera2000]

Never

[drilpencils]

(art by the late edward koren, text by dril)

[drilpencils]

(art by edward koren, caption by dril)