"Now I know I am an intellectual. I saw Malcolm Muggeridge on the television last night, and I understood nearly every word. It all adds up. A bad home, poor diet, not liking punk. I think I will join the library and see what happens".
Sue Townsend, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4
I met Adrian Mole for the first time when I was 10, and even though at that time much of the humour and irony was lost on me, I loved this book. Since that first reading, I have returned to Adrian's diary many times and think that Sue Townsend has created the character of Adrian Mole perfectly; the teenage angst, his unrequited love for Pandora, his feeling of superiority over his parents, and, his tendency to overdramatise situations. Adrian also fancies himself as something of a literary genius, and his diary documents his many attempts to receive recognition from the BBC for his very original poetry...believe me there are some classics in there! Despite all of this, you can't help but feel an affection and fondness for Adrian, and route for him through all of his trial and tribulations.
As well as Adrian, we meet an array of weird but wonderful characters such as pensioner Bert Baxter, Adrian's long suffering friend Nigel, and of course Adrian's love interest Pandora Braithwaite.
Sue Townsend succeeds in capturing the confusing and difficult time of adolescence with humour, but also sensitivity, and every time I read it I am reminded of how I felt at that age, and how situations that may not feel like a big deal now felt like the end of the world then!
"The more I wonder, the more I love".
Alice Walker, The Color Purple
The Color Purple is set in the deep American South and tells the story of Celie. We first meet Celie when she is 14, through letters that she is writing to God as a result of the abuse that she is suffering by the man she calls her father. Her letters to God are the only way that she is able to express her true feelings, due to her position in the household and her desire to protect the members of her family whom she loves. Later on in the book, we see Celie's letters to her sister, Nettie, when they are separated from each other.
I will be honest with you, this book is not an easy read and at times can be heartbreaking and painful, but it is also inspiring and emphasises the power of faith, love and hope. Celie's story is one that will stay with you for a long time, and is one that everyone should read.
"It wasn't like I'd woken up and decided to be a bitch, it was more like I'd woken up to find bitchiness thrust upon me".
Sarra Manning, Diary of a Crush
If, like me, you religiously bought J17 magazine every month as a teenager, you will remember the story of Edie and Dylan...I loved this column! I remember how frustrating it would be to have to wait a whole month to find out what happened, as the entry almost always left us in suspense.
I think it's fair to say that Edie's diary entries were a pretty accurate reflection of the worries and dilemmas of most teenage girls at that age, and Dylan was certainly the typical brooding, effortlessly cool, leading man that we all secretly (or not so secretly) had a crush on too. I think that at some point we all had a crush on a 'bad boy' that we hoped we could be the one to change. Whereas I am sure for most of us a crush was all it ever was, never amounting to much, we were all routing for Edie to get the ending that we all dreamed of.
It was only when I was doing research for this post that I discovered that Sarra Manning has published Diary of a Crush in a series of books, which are also now available on Kindle - how exciting!
So, did Edie get her man? You will have to read Diary of a Crush to find out...
"It was nice talking to you, I'd forgotten how good it was to confide in you".
This is a quote from one of my diaries; I kept a diary for most of my teenage years, particularly from the age of 11-16. I read them all recently, and to say they made for awkward reading is an understatement! Needless to say, I am not planning on publishing any of mine but I am so glad that I wrote so much down and can reminisce. I was really sad to hear recently that a school friend of mine had thrown out all of her diaries, they are a part of us and remind us how we have become the people that we are. What would I change from that time? Absolutely nothing!
