Review:
I will throw a warning out there right away, these books are rough. Taken from the pages of teen diaries, they tell the tales of young people who have been wrapped in turmoil. I cried at least once when reading each of these novels, but I can't say that I'm sorry I read any of them. They are haunting true tales that will stick with you long after reading them.
These novels show the snowball effect that can happen all too frequently in teen's lives, starting with a seemingly innocent drink, kiss, etc. They depict how quickly things can spiral out of control, and can serve as a warning for teenagers and a reminder for some that they aren't alone.
Questionable Themes:
Drugs, Sex, Drinking, Cult and Witchcraft
Books Like the Anonymous Teen Diaries:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Snitch by Allison van Diepen
Cut by Patricia McCormick
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Go Ask Alice
Year: 1971
Number of Pages: 214
Reading Level: 6th grade
Summary:
"After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs..."
The harrowing true story of a teenager's descent into the seductive world of drugs. A diary so honest you may think you know Alice -- or someone like her. Read her diary. Enter her world. You'll never be able to forget Alice.
Year: 1994
Number of Pages: 259
Reading Level: 6th grade
Summary:
Nancy was an innocent fourteen-year-old when she fell in love for the very first time. Collin was a dream come true -- a handsome college student, and he made her trust him completely. Then he date-raped her and left her -- infected with the HIV virus.
This is Nancy's own story, taken from the pages of her diary. It reveals her deepest feelings -- from the wonderful romantic fantasies of first love to the nightmare of facing the cruel reality of AIDS. With her body ravaged by the deadly virus, her youthful dreams destroyed, and death very near, Nancy made the decision to make her most private thoughts and experiences public in the hope of saving others from the same tragic fate.
Year: 1978
Number of Pages: 192
Reading Level: 7th grade
Summary:
Jay was a nice, bright high school kid who cared about good grades, good friends, good times -- and as few hassles with his parents as possible. He thought someday he might be a doctor, a lawyer, maybe a writer. He thought he could handle anything. But he was wrong.
When school days began to twist into a haze of drugs and drinking...when his girlfriend's addiction led him to steal pills from his father's pharmacy...when a charismatic friend lured him into a nightmare world of the occult, Jay couldn't handle it. Helplessly fascinated, he plunged into a world of Ouija boards and witchcraft, animal sacrifice and Satanism...into a black abyss from which there seemed no escape.
Treacherous Love
Year: 2000
Number of Pages: 176
Reading Level: 7th grade
Summary:
Fourteen-year-old Jennie's life is turning upside-down. Her father has walked out, and her anguished mother seeks solace in pills. Her best friend practically abandons her to be with a boyfriend. Suddenly, Jennie's real best friend is her diary, until she meets Mr. Johnstone -- JJ -- the substitute math teacher. Soon their friendship moves far beyond the classroom, and Jennie's diary becomes a record of her loneliness, insecurity, and confusion about her feelings for JJ. Will it also offer her a way to escape from his treacherous love?
Annie's Baby
Year: 1998
Number of Pages: 256
Reading Level: 7th grade
Summary:
When Annie discovers she's pregnant by her boyfriend, she's devastated. She has never felt so alone. With no one she can talk to, she pours her heart out to her diary, confiding her feelings of panic, self-doubt, and the desperate hope that someday she can turn her life around. She decides she wants to keep her baby and dreams of loving and caring for this little person. But after the baby is born, it's in her diary that she faces the agonizing question: Can she really raise this child on her own?
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