TOTALLY PRIVATE:

STORIES TOLD IN DIARY FORMAT

A Bibliography for Teens

 

Purpose: This bibliography is intended for teens that like John Black’s series The Black Book [Diary of a Teenage Stud].  The series has actually been fairly well received by professional review sources, but as it extends past the originally planned three volumes, the story is getting a bit thin. This bibliography attempts to balance Black’s rather glib approach to sexual issues with some more serious titles, and to move the reader toward literature that includes other issues instead of, or in addition to, sex.  “Private thoughts” is the subject that connects the titles, access to which is the appeal of the diary format. Some titles are not technically diaries, but are first person narratives of such a personal nature that they might as well be.  It is clear from reading voluntary reviews at Barnes and Noble’s bookbrowser.com that John Black’s series has female fans, so I have included titles with both male and female protagonists.  Although most reviewers recommend The Black Book Series for high school students only, I feel that many of its actual readers are in middle school, and so most of the titles included in the bibliography are appropriate for that age group while hopefully still appealing to older readers as well if they haven’t already read them.  Those titles that are really only appropriate for older students, at least in their parents minds, are marked with an “M.”  Finally, the bibliography reminds readers that the diary format can be enjoyed in genres other than contemporary fiction by including some historical fiction titles.  I would not acknowledge the “guidance” aspect of this bibliography to its users.  In fact, I include a few of the series books among the suggested titles so that they will hopefully judge the bibliography as something that might be of use to them.  When published, it would appear as follows:

 

 

TOTALLY PRIVATE

STORIES TOLD IN DIARY FORMAT

A Bibliography for Teens

 

     Do you have a favorite book or series that was written as a diary?  Have you finished them all, or are you just getting a little tired of the same characters?  This bibliography was written to help you find some other books that you might enjoy.  Most of the suggested titles are written in diary form.  The rest are very similar in that the narrative contains intensely private thoughts.  This list divides the titles according to whether they are contemporary or historical fiction, and also according to the sex of the main character in case that is important to you.  However, I encourage you to try titles from all parts of the bibliography so that you don’t miss some great books, many of which are laugh-out-loud funny.

 

CONTEMPORARY FICTION

 (An “M” preceding the title advises readers and their advisors of mature content)

 

FEMALE DIARY WRITERS

 

Are You There God?  It’s Me Margaret, by Judy Blume

Margaret poignantly addresses her adolescent concerns, magnified by a recent move, to her personalized version of God.

 

(M) Forever, by Judy Blume

Kathy recounts a realistically detailed first sexual experience along with her dashed expectations that shared intimacy denotes a relationship that will last forever

 

Celine by Brock Cole

Admonished to be responsible and supportive by the father who is neither, Celine must finish a paper, pass swimming, and care for a neighbor boy dealing with divorce before heading to Italy.

 

Absolutely Normal Chaos, by Sharon Creech

An English teacher requires a summer journal in which some entries can be marked private, and thirteen-year-old Mary Lou muses about her family, romance, adoption, and Homer’s Odyssey.

 

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison

Very funny, British-slang-laced journal of Georgia Nicolson, who struggles with her

father’s absence, her aggressive cat Angus, and her obsession with an older boy.

 

Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks

Fifteen-year-old Alice’s diary provides and honest look at the seductive and destructive world of drug addiction, as she struggles to free herself from its hold.

 

 (M) Annie’s Baby, by Beatrice Sparks

Full of illusions at 14, Annie must suddenly face the realities of pregnancy, a two-faced

boyfriend, and an uncertain future for herself and her child.

 

(M) It Happened to Nancy, by Beatrice Sparks

Nancy struggles to deal with the aftermath of date rape, only to have her agony increase when she is learns she has aids.  Her diary records her emotional devastation and physical decline.

 

 

 MALE DIARY WRITERS

 

Tangerine, by Edward Bloor

Twelve-year old Paul fights to play soccer despite his near blindness, and to emerge from the shadow of his older brother who is publicly a football hero, and secretly a sadist.

 

(M) Girls, Girls, Girls, by Jonah Black

Jonah has been expelled from a boarding school for reasons that remain mysterious, and muses about steamy, and possibly imagined, encounters with a girl there.

 

(M) Stop, Don’t Stop, by Jonah Black

Jonah’s story continues as he tries to deal with his past history, his increasing sexual interest in a girl who has been a friend, and having to repeat junior year while his sister graduates early

 

(M) Stotan! by Chris Crutcher, Chronicles the final season of a too-small swim team whose close bonds provide a great deal of enjoyment as well as support as

the members deal with personal goals and a myriad of issues.

 

Breathing Underwater, by Alex Flin

Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Nick explores his feelings for her, his anger, and his relationship with his abusive father.

 

(M) America, by E. R. Frank

In therapy, 15-year-old America reluctantly delves into his past history as a mixed-race child abandoned by his drug-addicted mother and further abused in situations beyond his control.

 

Silent to the Bone, by E. L. Konigsburg

Connor searches for the truth about his friend Bramwell who is accuses of neglectfully causing harm to his young stepsister and has withdrawn into silence.

 

(M) Rats Saw God, by Rob Thomas

In a last ditch effort to graduate, Steve begins a journal of his broken love affair, his relationship with his too perfect astronaut father and his slide from honor student to stoner,

 

 

 

HISTORICAL FICTION

 

 

FEMALE DIARY WRITERS

 

Before We Were Free, by Julie Alvarez

Living in the Dominican Republic in the 1960’s, Anita chronicles her increasing understanding that her family’s opposition to Trujillo’s dictatorship places them in great danger.

 

Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal, by Joan W. Blos The journal of a 14-year-old girl that chronicles her last year on the family farm, her father’s remarriage,

 

Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman

Catherine is thirteen and writes wittily about her castle life and her efforts to avoid the restrictions of female life and an arranged marriage to suitors she finds odious.

 

Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self, by Lois Gottlieb

Fictionalized diary, but accurate memoir of the author’s struggle with anorexia nervosa, a serious topic handles with compassion and humor.

 

Jazmin’s Notebook, by Nikki Grimes

Journal entries that include poetry chronicle Jazmin’s life in 1960’s Harlem. Deeply affected by their mother’s abandonment and father’s death, Jazmin is grateful to live with her sister.

 

A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin, by Karen Hesse

Amelia is a teacher in Delaware and also helps her father at the lighthouse.  The divisiveness of the Civil War is reflected in her parent’s serious disagreements on the issue of slavery.

 

Our Only May Amelia, by Jennifer L. Holm

May longs to do everything her brothers do in their Northwest Finnish community at the turn of the century.  Briefly she lives in Astoria, writing about seaport life and treatment of the Chinese.

 

Diary of a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs, by Mary E. Lyons

In engaging dialect, Harriet describes her life as a slave in North Carolina and her eventual preparations to escape to the North in 1842.

 

Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, by Robin Maxwell

Entries from a fictional diary in which Ann Boleyn chronicles her demise, influence her daughter Elizabeth to defy her advisors and suitors and remain single to keep power in her own hands.

 

Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa 1595, by Patricia C. McKissack

Nzingha uses her knowledge of Portuguese to outwit them and inherit the leadership of her people in spite of her sex and the existence of a brother who is the heir apparent

 

Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914, by Carolyn Meyer

Only as her idyllic life becomes endangered by the unrest in Russia and her parent’s reliance on the manipulative Rasputin, does Anastasia becomes aware that others live in poverty.

 

Witch Child, by Celia Rees

Her grandmother is executed as a witch in England in 1659, and young Mary flees to America only to find that the Puritans are just as inhospitable to the kind of training she has received.

 

Lady of Ch’iao Kuo: Warrior of the South, by Lawrence Yep

In 6th century China, a 16-year-old girl becomes a liaison between opposing forces in a seemingly never-ending war.  Using both brains and fighting skills, she works to end the conflict.

 

Where Have All The Flowers Gone? The Diary of Molly MacKenzie Flaherty, by Ellen Emerson White.

Companion book to the author’s Vietnam soldier’s diary.  This volume is the diary of his sister that chronicles life on the home front during that controversial war.

 

 

MALE DIARY WRITERS

 

Breaking Through, by Francisco Jimenez

Francisco endures hardship and separation, but thanks to his unbelievable work ethic and an attentive adult who reveals unimagined possibilities, he manages to break the cycle of poverty.

 

Journal of William Thomas Emerson, a Revolutionary War Hero, by Barry Denenberg

Thomas is a 12-year-old orphan who runs

away to be a spy for the Revolutionary cause.

 

William Durbin

When he is 13, C. J and his family make a hope-filled journey escaping the devastation of the dust bowl, but only find new difficulties in the hard life as migrant workers in California.

 

Journal of Otto Peltonen: A Finnish Immigrant, Hibbing Minnesota, 1905, by William Durbin

Otto’s family journeys from Finland to Minnesota where he and his father work in the dangerous iron mines and become involved in the beginnings of union struggles for better conditions.

 

Journal of C. J. Jackson: A Dust Bowl Immigrant, Oklahoma to California, 1935, by William Durbin

Thirteen-year-old C. J’s family journeys from Oklahoma to California to escape the Dust Bowl only to find the migrant life available there very difficult as well

 

Journal of Sean Sullivan: A Transcontinental Railroad Worker, Nebraska and Points West, 1867, by William Durbin.

Sean and his father work for the Union Pacific and he writes detailed accounts of the competitive work, the prejudice between ethnic groups, and events on the surrounding frontier.

 

Journal of Jaspar Jonathan Pierce: a Pilgrim Boy, Plymouth, 1620, by Kathryn Lasky

An orphan, 14-year-old Jaspar journeys to America as an indentured servant and writes of the struggles of the new colony and of his admiration for the Indians that he lives with for a time.

 

Journal of Jedediah Barstow: An Emigrant on the Oregon Trail, by Ellen Levine

Having to cope with the sudden loss of his entire family at a dangerous river crossing, Jedediah is taken in by another family on the journey in return with his help in maintaining their wagon.

Journal of Biddy Owens: The Negro Leagues, by Walter Dean Myers

Biddy is a batboy for the Birmingham team and faces the hardships and racism along with the rest of the team.  He strives to be a ball player against the wishes of his family.

 

Journal of James Edmond Pease: A Civil War Union Soldier, by Jim Murphy

His commanding officer orders sixteen-year-old James to keep a record of their military progress. His words record events and his own reactions to the horror of the war.

 

Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donnor Party Expedition, 1846, by W. R. Philbrick

Douglas is enamored with this journey full of adventure and promise, but he becomes increasingly reflective as hardship and moral dilemmas overwhelm the expedition.

 

Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty: United States Marine Corps, Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968, by Ellen Emerson White.

Patrick naively volunteers to serve in Vietnam, and is faced with the struggles to do his best as he and his buddies become disillusioned with the war and overcome by its cost in lives lost.

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