I just finished reading The Carrie Diaries by Candice Bushnell.

You might have heard of her book that was turned into a little show called Sex and the City?

If not, welcome to the world of young Carrie Bradshaw in the 1980s – beloved (?) future protagonist of the series that glamorized single women in their 30s and 40s living large in Manhattan (and their fabulous shoe collections).
Well, this Carrie is not quite there yet.
Carrie of the 1980s is a high school senior in a small Connecticut town trying to figure out what she wants to do with her future. Holding true to the Carrie we know, she wants to be a writer and is trying to get into a summer writing workshop in NYC. But this young teen is not yet the experienced woman who will go on to seduce many wealthy and powerful men as an adult. To her dismay, Carrie is still hasn’t gone all the way and is jealous of her friends who have. She has boyfriends and dates, but proves to be unlucky in love this time around. We do see other snippets of the strong adult personality to come. She is known as the quirky, fun one in the group and starts to exhibit her own unique style. At one point, her mother’s handbag is ruined when her younger sister splatters pink nail polish all over it. Rather than throwing it out, Carrie just uses the pink polish to write her name all over the bag as a fashion statement.
The 1980s setting is fun but subtle – we get some funny clothing descriptions accompanied with feathered hair, of course – but the only thing that stands out from modern teen books is the drinking age. In the 1980s the drinking age was 18, so her friends were legitimately able to go to bars and buy alcohol, which made them seem a bit older, but it’s a framework for the cocktail-loving Carrie to come.
In general, the book was mostly a light read with some fun hints of the series and an ending that foreshadowed the great friendships to form later on. Good fun for a summer read!
Enjoy!
Sharon Long
Teen Services Librarian