Diaries and Letters

Fiction

Alford, Jan. I Can't Believe I Have To Do This. (YA FIC)
Twelve-year-old Dean Matthews receives a journal as a birthday present from his mother and records the events of the following year.

American Diaries Series. (YA PB)
Different girls, living in different periods of America's past, reveal their heart's secrets in the pages of their diaries.

Author Anonymous. Go Ask Alice. (YA FIC)
A fifteen-year-old drug user chronicles her daily struggle to escape the pull of the drug world.

Ayres, Katherine. North by Night: a Story of the Underground Railroad. (YA FIC)
Presents the journal of a 16-year-old girl whose family operates a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Bunin, Sherry. Dear Great American Writers School. (YA FIC)
Fourteen-year-old Bobby Lee's letters to a correspondence school describe her life in a small Kentucky town during World War II and her growth as a person and as a writer.

California Diaries Series. (YA PB)
Life is changing. Fast. New secrets, new problems. Sometimes writing them down helps.

Chan, Gillian. A Foreign Field. (YA FIC)
During the Second World War, two young teenagers, Ellen Logan and pilot Stephen Dearborn, become friends as they write to each other of their experiences in the war and fall in love in the process.

Chbosky, Steve. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. (YA FIC)
Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie is navigating through the strange worlds of love, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and dealing with the loss of a good friend and his favorite aunt.

Cushman, Karen. Catherine, Called Birdy. (YA FIC)
The 13-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.

Danziger, Paula. P.S. Longer Letter Later. (YA FIC)
12-year-old best friends Elizabeth and Tara-Starr continue their friendship through letter writing after Tara-Starr's family moves to another state.

Dear America Series. (YA FIC)
Teens from America's past chronicle their lives in these popular historical fiction diaries.

Ducey, Jean Sparks. The Bittersweet Time. (YA FIC)
As the Depression begins to take hold in the autumn of 1929, thirteen-year-old Jane records in her diary the day-to-day changes in her family's circumstances after her father loses his job.

Ehrlich, Gretel. A Blizzard Year: Timmy's Almanac of the Seasons. (JUV FIC)
For one year, thirteen-year-old Timmy records in her journal the changes she sees in the natural world and her family's activities on their Wyoming ranch as they fight to save it from financial ruin.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey. (YA FIC)
In the journal she is keeping for English class, sixteen-year-old Tish chronicles the changes in her life when her abusive father returns home after a two-year absence.

Hansen, Joyce. One True Friend. (YA FIC)
Fourteen-year-old Amir exchanges letters with his friend Doris who still lives in their old Bronx neighborhood, in which they share their lives and give each other advice on friendship, family, foster care, and making decisions.

Hesse, Karen. Letters from Rifka. (YA FIC)
In letters to her cousin, a young Jewish girl chronicles her family's flight from Russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be left in Belgium for a while when the others emigrate to America.

Lundgren, Mary Beth. Love, Sara. (YA FIC)
In a series of emails and journal entries Sara, a high school junior with a history of sexual abuse and foster home care, reveals her feelings about herself and two friends who are headed for destruction.

Lyons, Mary. Letters from a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs. (YA FIC)
A fictionalized version of the life of Harriet Jacobs, told in the form of letters that she might have written during her slavery in North Carolina and as she prepared for escape to the North in 1842.

Marsden, John. Letters from the Inside. (YA FIC)
The relationship between two teenage girls who become acquainted through letters intensifies as their correspondence reveals some of the terrible problems of their lives.

Moriarty, Jaclyn. The Year of Secret Assignments. (YA FIC)
Three female students from Ashbury High write to three male students from rival Brookfield High as part of a pen pal program, leading to romance, humiliation, revenge plots, and war between the schools.

My Name is America Series. (YA FIC)
Different boys in America's past chronicle their experiences in journal format.

Jones, Robin D. The Beginning of Unbelief. (YA FIC)
While keeping a journal to record some upheavals in his life, 15-year-old Hal creates within its pages a science fiction story starring his alter ego, Zach.

Petersen, P. J. Rob&sara.com. (YA FIC)
Rob, who lives at a school for troubled teenagers, and Sara, the sixteen-year-old daughter of an army colonel, meet in a poetry chat-room and develop a close relationship via email.

Saksena, Kate. Hang On in There, Shelley. (YA FIC)
Living in London, fourteen-year-old Shelley writes letters to a pop star that describe her life with friends and family, including her divorced alcoholic mother, and her struggles with a school bully.

Sappey, Maureen Stack. Letters from Vinnie. (YA FIC)
A fictionalized account of the Washington, D.C., Civil War years experienced by Vinnie Ream the sculptress, best known for the statue of Abraham Lincoln that is in the Capitol building.

Tashjian, Janet. Tru Confessions. (YA FIC)
Computer-literate, twelve-year-old Tru keeps an electronic diary where she documents her desire to cure her handicapped twin brother and her plan to create a television show.

Turner, Nancy E. These is My Words : the Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 : Arizona Territories. (YA FIC)
Sarah Prine keeps track of her family's triumphs and tragedies over the span of twenty years.

Wittlinger, Ellen. Heart on My Sleeve. (YA FIC)
From the end of high school to the beginning of college, Chloe and Julian deal with major changes in their families and friendships and explore their feelings for each other through emails, letters, and a visit.

Yumoto, Kazumi. The Letters. (YA FIC)
In Japan, the death of her former landlady triggers a young woman's memories about her father's death when she was six years old, and the special way the old lady helped her to cope with the loss.

Nonfiction

Boas, Jacob, ed. We are Witnesses : Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust. (YA 940.5318 W369W)
Read the diaries of five teens who were killed in Hitler's death camps.

Frank, Anne. Diary of Anne Frank. (YA 940.5315 F851D)
From her fourteenth to sixteenth birthday, Anne keeps track of her thoughts, hopes, and dreams while hiding with her family in Nazi-occupied Holland.

Holliday, Laurel, ed. Children in the Holocaust and World War II: Their Secret Diaries. (YA 940.5318 C437C)
A collection of diaries written by children ages ten through eighteen in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Lyons, Mary E. Keeping Secrets: the Girlhood Diaries of Seven Women Writers. (YA 928.108 L995K)
A fascinating look at the public and private life of Louisa May Alcott and six other nineteenth century woman writers.

Mirriam-Goldberg, Caryn. Write Where You Are: How to Use Writing to Make Sense of Your Life: A Guide for Teens. (YA 808.06692 M679W)
Provides advice and exercises to enable individuals to become more confident and more competent writers.

Smith, Erica. Write It Down! : A Girl's Guide to Keeping a Journal. (YA 808.06692 SM55W)
Discusses journal writing as a useful and fun activity to help girls learn about themselves and express their thoughts and feelings.

Sparks, Beatrice, ed. Jay's Journal. (YA 133.43092 J338)
The journal of a troubled boy's harrowing descent into drugs, Satanism, and suicide.

Teen Magazine. Diary of a Junior Year. (YA 305.235 D542D)
This emotionally charged series written in diary format documents the real lives of a group of eight teens from the beginning to the end of their junior year.

Updated by S.B. 4/05; Holdings checked 7/06 KRL

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