So far Sonny had: smoked twelve cigarettes (three Salems, two Kents, seven Kools), drank three and a half cans of Budweiser and a Colt 45, lifted "Johnny Mathis' Greatest Hits from Sam Goody's and a pair of earrings from Alexander's on Fordham Road...

Although Pilcer's first novel was published for an adult audience, it quickly gained cult status among high school cognoscenti. A classic novel of adolescence, West Side Story told from the point of view of a 14-year-old Jewish girl, who prefers the dangerous streets of Washington Heights to the suffocation of her Holocaust survivor home.

"Touching and truthful... Sonny Palovsky may stand as a character with other special literary early adolescents: a new generation may find her more relevant... and certainly more feminist than Holden Caulfield or the young Portnoy. Tough and sweet, rude, loud and hilariously filthy." New York Times

"Relentlessly funny... gives growing up a good name." Mademoiselle

"Sonia Pilcer is women's answer to Martin Amis."
New Statesman

"The life and times of Sonny Palovsky and the Teen Angels are not for those who grow faint at the sight of the written epithet. Pilcer's heroine recounts the filthiest jokes imaginable to keep the fearsome world at arm's length."
Soho Weekly News

"I read this novel with immense pleasure. I knew Sonny Palovsky, I grew up with her, got to second base with her, and Sonia Pilcer makes her as real as any writer possibly can. Teen Angel transcends the standard adolescent growing up novel because of its frantic energy, its unpretentiousness, Ms. Pilcer's beautiful humor, and her genuine love for Sonny."
Richard Price

"If knowledge is strength, then Sonia Pilcer's Teen Angel is a valiant introduction to a violent, raunchy young world. The book has integrity and verve."
Gail Godwin

"Author Pilcer should be given a major literary award, then have her mouth washed out with soap."
C.D.B.Bryan

Teen Angel was published in the States by Coward, McCann (edited by Joseph Kanon) and Avon Books. Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Star brought out editions abroad. It was optioned for a film to be directed by Garry Marshall for Universal Studios, who then purchased the rights. She co-wrote the screenplay with Garry Marshall. Director Amy Heckerling of Fast Times at Ridgemont High was originally slated to direct the film version, which still awaits its maker.