Free Verse, Poetry, Diaries, Letters and Memoirs

3 NBs of Julian Drew ~James M. Deem
The journals of troubled Julian, who lives with his father and emotionally and physically abusive stepmother and her children after the death of his own mother years ago.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson ~Louise Rennison
The humorous journal of a year in the life of Georgia, who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.

Beauty Queen ~Linda Glovach
In this fictionalized diary, we watch as Samantha becomes disillusioned with love, takes a job as a topless dancer and becomes addicted to heroin.

CrashBoomLove: A Novel in Verse ~Juan Felipe Herrera
After his father leaves home, Cesar lives with his mother and struggles through the painful experiences of growing up as a Mexican American migrant worker and high school student.

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

Fat Chance ~Leslea Newman
In a series of diary entries, Judi recounts her struggles to lose weight, hide her bulimia from her mother, find a boyfriend, and decide on a profession.

Learning to Swim: A Memoir ~Ann Warren Turner
A series of poems convey the feelings of a young girl whose sense of joy and security at the family's summerhouse is shattered one summer by an older boy who lives nearby.

Letters from the Inside ~John Marsden
The relationship between Tracey and Mandy, who become acquainted through letters, intensifies as their correspondence reveals some of the terrible problems of their lives.

Letters to Julia ~Barbara Ware Holmes
In her journal, chapters of the novel she is writing, and letters to a New York editor who has befriended her, Liz reveals her journey of self-discovery in the midst of a dysfunctional family.

Making up Megaboy ~Virginia Walter
Told in a variety of formats, this is the account of Robbie, who shoots an old man in a liquor store and everyone who knows the quiet, withdrawn youth struggles to understand what went wrong.

Split Image: A Story in Poems ~Mel Glenn
Everyone has an image of Laura Li, the most popular girl in school: "stone-hearted" or "warmhearted", "conceited deceiver" or "humble achiever". What is the truth?

Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self ~Lori Gottlieb
This diary chronicles Lori’s transformation from a bright, healthy kid into an anorexic hospital patient on the verge of death.

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy ~Sonya Somes
Written in verse, this is a poignant straight-on telling of what happens when the author's sister winds up in a mental institution.

What Kind of Love?: The Diary of a Pregnant Teenager ~Sheila Cole
Valerie has everything going for her-until she discovers she is pregnant.