Brian Gordon's Fowl Language: Tweenage Wasteland offers a hilarious and painfully relatable glimpse into the chaotic world of tweens and teens. Forget sleepless nights and tantrums; this installment tackles the next level of parental struggle: the snarky attitude, the eye rolls, and the existential dread of raising a pre-teen. Gordon's signature cartoon style perfectly captures the absurdity and emotional rollercoaster of this developmental stage, leaving parents chuckling, nodding in agreement, and perhaps shedding a tear or two of exhausted recognition. If you've ever questioned your sanity while navigating the turbulent waters of the tween years, this book is your empathetic, laugh-out-loud companion.
Review Fowl Language
Let me tell you, folks, if you've ever navigated the treacherous waters of the tween and teenage years, Brian Gordon's Fowl Language: Tweenage Wasteland is pure gold. I've been a fan of Gordon's work for a while now, and his ability to capture the absolute absurdity and sometimes agonizing reality of family life is just unmatched. This book, specifically focusing on the joys (and let's be honest, mostly the joys) of the pre-teen/teen years, is no exception. It's hilarious, sometimes even laugh-out-loud funny to the point where my kids were asking what I was giggling about – a testament in itself to its relatability.
The humor is sharp, observational, and deeply rooted in the everyday struggles of parenting a young person in that particularly volatile age group. Gordon doesn't shy away from the messy, chaotic realities. He doesn't sugarcoat the eye-rolls, the sass, the constant negotiation, and the sheer, unadulterated exhaustion that comes with raising a tween or teen. He's tapped into something universal – the experience of parenting in this specific stage of child development – and he's done it with such wit and charm that even when the situations depicted are infuriatingly familiar, they're still laugh-out-loud funny.
What makes Gordon's work so brilliant is that it’s both hilariously relatable and oddly comforting. There's a sense of shared experience that runs through each page. It validates those feelings of exasperation and frustration that parents often feel but rarely admit to, reminding us that we're not alone in our battles with teenage angst. Yes, there are moments where the book veers slightly into preachy territory. Certain panels might hit a little too close to home and prompt a sigh of recognition rather than a hearty chuckle. But even those moments are presented with such good humor that they don't detract from the overall comedic genius of the work.
I wholeheartedly recommend Fowl Language: Tweenage Wasteland to anyone who’s currently experiencing the joys (again, mostly the joys) of raising tweens or teens. Parents, teachers, even grandparents – anyone who has ever interacted with a pre-teen or teenager will find themselves nodding along and maybe even shedding a tear or two of sympathetic laughter. It’s the kind of book that you can read in one sitting, but you'll find yourself revisiting specific panels or pages over and over again, just to relive the sheer brilliance of Gordon's observations. If you already have one of his baby books, this one is a perfect complement, offering a continuation of the hilarious family saga. If you haven’t experienced the brilliance of Brian Gordon yet, start here, or with his baby books; whichever stage of parenthood (or family life!) you’re currently in, you won’t regret it. Just be prepared to laugh until your sides hurt.
Information
- Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.5 x 8 inches
- Language: English
- Print length: 132
- Publication date: 2024
- Publisher: Rocketship Entertainment