Gossip Girl
Encyclopedia
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar
and published by Little, Brown and Company
, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group
. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite private school in New York City
's Upper East Side
. The books primarily focus on best friends Blair Waldorf
and Serena van der Woodsen
, whose experiences are among those chronicled by the eponymous gossip blogger
.
The first novel, Gossip Girl, was released in April 2002; the eleventh novel of the series was released in May 2007, with a prequel novel following in October 2007. Another follow-up novel, in which the characters return home from college for the holidays, was released in hardback format in November 2009. The original novel became the inspiration for the Gossip Girl
teen drama television series, created by Josh Schwartz
and Stephanie Savage
, which premiered on The CW Television Network
on September 19, 2007.
In May 2008, a follow up series, Gossip Girl: The Carlyles, began publication, following the Carlyles triplets as they begin moving to the Upper East Side. As of May 2009, three novels have been released in this series. Ziegesar created a spin-off series, The It Girl
, which began publication in 2005, and Yen Press has adapted the series into a manga
series titled Gossip Girl: For Your Eyes Only.
format in April 2002. Two new novels were released annually until the final novel, Don't You Forget About Me, was released in May 2007, showing the main characters graduating from high school and moving on to college and other pursuits. A prequel novel, It Had To Be You, was released in October 2007 in hardcover
and electronic book format. It detailed the events that occurred a year before the first novel. A box set containing the eleven novels of the series and the prequel novel, in paperback format, was released November 1, 2009. In the same month, a sequel novel, I Will Always Love You is also scheduled to be released. The hardcover book tells the story of the main characters returning home from college for the holidays. Hachette Group re-released all of the original novels in electronic book format between 2008 and 2009.
Books nine, ten and eleven of the main series were ghostwritten.
In December 2009, Yen Press
announced that it was working with Korean artist Baek Hye-Kyung to create a manga
adaptation of the series titled Gossip Girl: For Your Eyes Only. Rather than adapting the original novels, however, the graphic novels will feature original stories with the same characters. It will be serialized in the company's anthology magazine Yen Plus
, with the first chapter appearing in the January 2010 issue.
In 2011, the parody novel Gossip Girl: Psycho Killer was scheduled for release in October.
calls the books "corruption with a cute overlay," and she claims that "sex saturates the Gossip Girl books.... This is not the frank sexual exploration found in a Judy Blume
novel, but teenage sexuality via Juicy Couture
, blasé and entirely commodified
."
Pam Spencer Holley, former YALSA President with the American Library Association
(ALA), presents a different point of view, claiming simply to be "happy to see teen girls reading." Confident that young girls will move onto more respected literature, she points out, "Unless you read stuff that's perhaps not the most literary, you'll never understand what good works are." She went on to say, "Nobody complains about the adult women who read Harlequin romances." Holley created a new ALA book list to encourage teens to consult a list of recommendations for "both avid and reluctant readers, who are looking for books like Cecily von Ziegesar's Gossip Girl series. 'The books on this list are perfect for when your readers have finished with every Gossip Girl title in your library and are clamoring for another book like the Gossip Girl....'"
, was picked up by The CW. Josh Schwartz
, the creator of The O.C.
, is executive producer for the project. In the show, Blake Lively
plays Serena, Leighton Meester
plays Blair, Chace Crawford
plays Nate, Penn Badgley
plays Dan, Ed Westwick
plays Chuck, Taylor Momsen
plays Jenny and Jessica Szohr
plays Vanessa. The show is based on the books but does not follow the same story line. Some key characters from the books, such as Aaron Rose or the Lord, are introduced into the show with different storylines, and some characters undergo changes to their personality and characteristics. For example, Serena's older brother in the books, Erik van der Woodsen is two years younger than her instead of older, and the characters of Serena, Blair, Chuck and Nate have been best friends since childhood.
Cecily von Ziegesar
Cecily von Ziegesar is an American author best known for the young adult Gossip Girl books.-Early life and education:...
and published by Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group
Hachette Livre
-France:*Calmann-Lévy*Deux Coqs d'Or*Disney Hachette Edition*EDICEF*Editions 1*Editions du Chêne**E.P.A*Éditions Dunod*Editions Foucher*Editions Stock*Fayard**Editions Mille et Une Nuits**Editions Mazarine**Pauvert*Gautier-Languereau*Grasset...
. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite private school in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
. The books primarily focus on best friends Blair Waldorf
Blair Waldorf
Blair Cornelia Waldorf is the main character of Gossip Girl, introduced in the original series of novels and also appearing in their television and manga adaptations. Described as "a girl of extremes" by creator Cecily von Ziegesar, she is a comical overachiever who possesses both snobbish and...
and Serena van der Woodsen
Serena van der Woodsen
Serena Celia van der Woodsen is a fictional character in the young adult novel series Gossip Girl and its television adaptation. Serena is featured on the blog of the novel series' mysterious "Gossip Girl" narrator...
, whose experiences are among those chronicled by the eponymous gossip blogger
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
.
The first novel, Gossip Girl, was released in April 2002; the eleventh novel of the series was released in May 2007, with a prequel novel following in October 2007. Another follow-up novel, in which the characters return home from college for the holidays, was released in hardback format in November 2009. The original novel became the inspiration for the Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
teen drama television series, created by Josh Schwartz
Josh Schwartz
-Film school at USC:In 1995, Schwartz realized his boyhood dream of attending film school to study screen and television writing at the University of Southern California...
and Stephanie Savage
Stephanie Savage
Stephanie Savage is a Canadian screenwriter and television producer. Savage is best known for developing The CW's teen drama series, Gossip Girl from the novel series, and being an executive producer of the Fox series The O.C....
, which premiered on The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
on September 19, 2007.
In May 2008, a follow up series, Gossip Girl: The Carlyles, began publication, following the Carlyles triplets as they begin moving to the Upper East Side. As of May 2009, three novels have been released in this series. Ziegesar created a spin-off series, The It Girl
The It Girl
The It Girl is the first book in The It Girl series. It was written in 2005 by a ghostwriter with suggestions from Cecily von Ziegesar. Aimed toward young adults, it is a spin-off from the bestselling Gossip Girl series....
, which began publication in 2005, and Yen Press has adapted the series into a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series titled Gossip Girl: For Your Eyes Only.
History
The novel that started the series, Gossip Girl, was published in paperbackPaperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
format in April 2002. Two new novels were released annually until the final novel, Don't You Forget About Me, was released in May 2007, showing the main characters graduating from high school and moving on to college and other pursuits. A prequel novel, It Had To Be You, was released in October 2007 in hardcover
Hardcover
A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
and electronic book format. It detailed the events that occurred a year before the first novel. A box set containing the eleven novels of the series and the prequel novel, in paperback format, was released November 1, 2009. In the same month, a sequel novel, I Will Always Love You is also scheduled to be released. The hardcover book tells the story of the main characters returning home from college for the holidays. Hachette Group re-released all of the original novels in electronic book format between 2008 and 2009.
Books nine, ten and eleven of the main series were ghostwritten.
In December 2009, Yen Press
Yen Press
Yen Press is the manga and graphic novel imprint of Hachette Book Group. In addition to their regular book releases, Yen Press produces a monthly anthology called Yen Plus. The company's varied list demonstrates an interest in publishing a wide variety of Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and other...
announced that it was working with Korean artist Baek Hye-Kyung to create a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
adaptation of the series titled Gossip Girl: For Your Eyes Only. Rather than adapting the original novels, however, the graphic novels will feature original stories with the same characters. It will be serialized in the company's anthology magazine Yen Plus
Yen Plus
Yen Plus is an American monthly anthology magazine of Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and Original English-language manga published by Yen Press. The first issue went on sale on July 29, 2008 with five manga titles originally published by Gangan Comics, four manhwa titles, and two OEL manga titles...
, with the first chapter appearing in the January 2010 issue.
In 2011, the parody novel Gossip Girl: Psycho Killer was scheduled for release in October.
Characters
- Blair WaldorfBlair WaldorfBlair Cornelia Waldorf is the main character of Gossip Girl, introduced in the original series of novels and also appearing in their television and manga adaptations. Described as "a girl of extremes" by creator Cecily von Ziegesar, she is a comical overachiever who possesses both snobbish and...
is the series' main character. She is described as having chestnut brown hair and brilliant blue eyes, being widely involved in extracurricular activities and having a tenacious attitude towards studies. Blair uses her charm, money and social status to get to where and what she wants. Blair attends Yale university after graduation from High School. Throughout the series, she has an on-off relationship with Nate Archibald. During their off times, he has dated several other girls including her close friend Serena van der Woodsen, whom he slept with while dating Blair. - Serena van der WoodsenSerena van der WoodsenSerena Celia van der Woodsen is a fictional character in the young adult novel series Gossip Girl and its television adaptation. Serena is featured on the blog of the novel series' mysterious "Gossip Girl" narrator...
is described as being slim, ethereally beautiful, and "perfect". Serena dabbled in modeling before landing a starring role in Breakfast at Fred's, a remake of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Serena has kept a steady string of admirers, including Nate ArchibaldNate ArchibaldNathaniel "Nate" Archibald is a former American professional basketball player. He spent 14 years playing in the NBA, most notably with the Kansas City Kings and Boston Celtics....
, Dan HumphreyDan HumphreyDaniel Randolph "Dan" Humphrey is a fictional character in the best selling Gossip Girl book series. He is the main male character in the television series of the same name and is portrayed by Penn Badgley. Daniel Humphrey is the son of Rufus Humphrey and has a younger sister, Jenny Humphrey. His...
, Aaron RoseAaron RoseAaron Rose is a film director, art show curator and writer who is a key part of the Beautiful Losers art movement, which has featured and helped notarize the work of artists such as Barry McGee, Steven "Espo" Powers, Harmony Korine and Shepard Fairey...
, and an entire a cappellaA cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
group at Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. Serena longs for true romance, and initially seeks this with Nate, despite his relationship with her friend Blair. In spite of this, she is easily bored by guys and does not often pursue committed relationships, preferring to play the field. Serena is often criticized by her classmates, who find her an excellent source of gossip but resent her effortless good looks and her ability to get the attention of any male. At the end of the book series, Serena decides to stay in New York City, instead of attending one of the many Ivy Leagues schools into which she was accepted, so that she can discover her life for herself. After a break from college, she attends Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. - Nate ArchibaldNate Archibald (Gossip Girl)Nathaniel Fitzwilliam "Nate" Archibald is a character in the best selling Gossip Girl book series. He is portrayed by Chace Crawford in the television series of the same name...
is a wealthy, good-looking lacrosse player from St. Jude's School for Boys. He has dated a number of girls in the series, but his only serious relationship has been with his on-again/off-againOn-again, off-again relationshipAn on-again, off-again relationship is a form of casual relationship, usually sexual, between two people. It is where the couple concerned do not see their discontinuous affair as an ongoing or formal relationship...
girlfriend, Blair Waldorf and her close friend Serena. After stealing his lacrosse coach's Viagra, he relied on Blair and her alumnus father's connections to get accepted to Yale, although he eventually left to sail around the world with his father's Navy mentor because he is unable to choose between Blair and Serena. In the sequel, he attends Deep SpringsDeep SpringsDeep Springs may refer to:*Deep Springs, California, unincorporated community in Inyo County*Deep Springs College, nontraditional two-year institution located in Deep Springs Valley...
recommended by Chuck Bass, and then Brown UniversityBrown UniversityBrown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. - Dan HumphreyDan HumphreyDaniel Randolph "Dan" Humphrey is a fictional character in the best selling Gossip Girl book series. He is the main male character in the television series of the same name and is portrayed by Penn Badgley. Daniel Humphrey is the son of Rufus Humphrey and has a younger sister, Jenny Humphrey. His...
is a thin, sensitive, caffeine-addicted poet who often sees the darker side of things. A romantic whose imagination runs off wildly at the worst times, he is also over-analytical and easily frustrated. He was in love with Serena for years before they met and briefly dated, and experimented with homosexuality, before he began dating Vanessa Abrams. He is a published writer of poetry and songs. At the end of the series, he is attending Evergreen State College in Washington. In the sequel he transfers to Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. - Jenny HumphreyJenny HumphreyJennifer Tallulah "Jenny" Humphrey is one of the characters in both the Gossip Girl and The It Girl series of novels by Cecily von Ziegesar...
is Dan's younger sister and an aspiring artist who wishes to be more like Serena, whom she eventually befriends. She often tries to fit in with the rich girls at her school, even though she does not hold a place in their social sphere. She is eventually kicked out of the Constance Billard School for Girls and sent to a boarding school where she reinvents herself as the "it girl", à la Serena. Her move to the boarding school and her life there became the topic of a spin-off of the series, The It GirlThe It GirlThe It Girl is the first book in The It Girl series. It was written in 2005 by a ghostwriter with suggestions from Cecily von Ziegesar. Aimed toward young adults, it is a spin-off from the bestselling Gossip Girl series....
. - Vanessa AbramsVanessa AbramsVanessa Abrams is a fictional character in the book series Gossip Girl. She is portrayed by Jessica Szohr in the television series of the same name.-Novel series:...
is a budding filmmaker and the total opposite of most of her classmates, sporting a shaved head and always wears black. She has a shaky relationship with Dan Humphrey, particularly after she ends up living with the Humphrey's for a short time. At the end of the series, she is attending New York UniversityNew York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. - Chuck BassChuck BassCharles Bartholomew "Chuck" Bass is a fictional character in the Gossip Girl series of teen novels and the television series of the same name. He is portrayed by English actor Ed Westwick. Although he is a secondary, antagonistic character in the original book series, in the television series Chuck...
is the series' handsome, lust-driven antagonist who tries to take advantage of several girls, though it is eventually revealed that he is maybe a bisexual. He is largely despised by other characters but due to his wealth and power he is tolerated. At the end of the series, he is not accepted into any college that he applied to and claims he is going to military college. However, he never arrives at the school and his whereabouts remain unknown. He later returns to New York as a changed, respectable man. In the books, Chuck is a secondary character. However, he is elevated to a primary role in its television adaptation, in which he holds an intense relationship with Blair, and is best friends with Nate and Serena.
Gossip Girl
| Title | Publication date | Length | ISBN |
|---|
Gossip Girl: The Carlyles
| Title | Publication date | Length | ISBN |
|---|
Reception
The criticism of this series primarily revolves around whether the events depicted in the story are appropriate for the teenage audience the books attract. American author and feminist Naomi WolfNaomi Wolf
Naomi Wolf is an American author and political consultant. With the publication of The Beauty Myth, she became a leading spokesperson of what was later described as the third wave of the feminist movement.-Biography:...
calls the books "corruption with a cute overlay," and she claims that "sex saturates the Gossip Girl books.... This is not the frank sexual exploration found in a Judy Blume
Judy Blume
Judy Blume is an American author. She has written many novels for children and young adults which have exceeded sales of 80 million and been translated into 31 languages...
novel, but teenage sexuality via Juicy Couture
Juicy Couture
Juicy Couture is a contemporary line of both casual and dressy apparel based in Arleta, Los Angeles, California founded by Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor in 1996...
, blasé and entirely commodified
Commodity (Marxism)
In classical political economy and especially Karl Marx's critique of political economy, a commodity is any good or service produced by human labour and offered as a product for general sale on the market. Some other priced goods are also treated as commodities, e.g...
."
Pam Spencer Holley, former YALSA President with the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
(ALA), presents a different point of view, claiming simply to be "happy to see teen girls reading." Confident that young girls will move onto more respected literature, she points out, "Unless you read stuff that's perhaps not the most literary, you'll never understand what good works are." She went on to say, "Nobody complains about the adult women who read Harlequin romances." Holley created a new ALA book list to encourage teens to consult a list of recommendations for "both avid and reluctant readers, who are looking for books like Cecily von Ziegesar's Gossip Girl series. 'The books on this list are perfect for when your readers have finished with every Gossip Girl title in your library and are clamoring for another book like the Gossip Girl....'"
Television adaptation
The television adaptation, also titled Gossip GirlGossip Girl (TV series)
Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series was created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007...
, was picked up by The CW. Josh Schwartz
Josh Schwartz
-Film school at USC:In 1995, Schwartz realized his boyhood dream of attending film school to study screen and television writing at the University of Southern California...
, the creator of The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
, is executive producer for the project. In the show, Blake Lively
Blake Lively
Blake Christina Lively is an American actress and model who stars as Serena van der Woodsen in the television teen drama series Gossip Girl...
plays Serena, Leighton Meester
Leighton Meester
Leighton Marissa Meester is an American actress and singer. Meester first garnered attention for playing Blair Waldorf in the CW television series Gossip Girl...
plays Blair, Chace Crawford
Chace Crawford
Christopher Chace Crawford , better known as Chace Crawford, is an American actor. He currently portrays Nate Archibald on the CW television drama Gossip Girl.-Early life:...
plays Nate, Penn Badgley
Penn Badgley
Penn Dayton Badgley is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Humphrey on the CW television series Gossip Girl. He has also starred in the movies John Tucker Must Die, The Stepfather, and Easy A....
plays Dan, Ed Westwick
Ed Westwick
Edward Jack P. "Ed" Westwick is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl.-Early life and career:...
plays Chuck, Taylor Momsen
Taylor Momsen
Taylor Michel Momsen is an American actress, musician and model who portrays the character of Jenny Humphrey on the CW television series Gossip Girl and portrayed the role of Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and fronts the rock band The Pretty Reckless.-Early life and career:Taylor...
plays Jenny and Jessica Szohr
Jessica Szohr
Jessica Karen Szohr is an American actress. Szohr began her screen career starring on television shows such as CSI: Miami and What About Brian...
plays Vanessa. The show is based on the books but does not follow the same story line. Some key characters from the books, such as Aaron Rose or the Lord, are introduced into the show with different storylines, and some characters undergo changes to their personality and characteristics. For example, Serena's older brother in the books, Erik van der Woodsen is two years younger than her instead of older, and the characters of Serena, Blair, Chuck and Nate have been best friends since childhood.