David Nadelberg

These excerpts from kids' diaries might make you flash back somewhat uncomfortably to your own teen and pre-teen years when the most pressing matter was whether Gordon just liked you, or whether he liked you liked you. But despite the title, I found all these diary entires sweet, even when they're completely bizarre. Example from the diary of an eighth-grade girl:

"Ever since I recommitted my life to Christ on Saturday, I've been having such a good life. I kind of like this guy named Andy. show more Later love, Anne Jensen."

Also unbelievably fabulous, if that word can be applied to something a bit macabre, is the entry from the 13-year-old who writes out her fantasy about being swept off her feet by Simon Le Bon and John Taylor from Duran Duran and moving in with them after her parents die in a fire. Oh, I know -- but the description doesn't do it justice. (Of course, they all MAKE LOVE.) And of course, it's precisely the sort of thing I would have written as a pre-teen (and probably did, though I've mercifully blocked it out of my memory), although I would have substituted the guys from "Starsky and Hutch" (hoo boy, am I dating myself).

There are a couple of exceptions -- at least two of the entries really don't seem to belong in the book, as the tone is out of kilter with the rest of the entries (I'm thinking mainly of the girl who sleeps around and uses cocaine, eventually landing in Narcotics Anonymous, at age 13. Uh, did I miss something, or was the tone of this book light and funny?). But you can tell those from the others pretty early on and skip them, if you're so inclined.

And I must admit I get a bit of a thrill from reading other people's diaries, even if they have given me permission.

If you're anywhere south of 45, this one is highly recommended, because I promise you'll recognize yourself, and probably your friends, somewhere in here. show less

A collection of actual diary/journal entries written by teens, accompanied by commentary by the adults who were those teens. Hilarious, pathetic and overdramatic, this book shows it is possible to survive adolescent angst and become a fairly rational adult!

The follow-up to Mortified is also good fun, but because the subject matter is more limited -- these entries are all of the "does he like me or like me like me" variety -- it eventually gets a bit repetitive. Still, worth reading if you happen to see it in the library or the bookstore.

This is a collection of letters, poems and short stories written by a bunch of teens, and reflected on by them when they were adults. This book started to be a very entertanining read but quickly got annoying fast. I would recommend this to be read in bits and spurts because the language that the teens and kids use in this book get irritating!