An abused and neglected teenager pours her heart into a journal for English class. PW found it "tough-edged... Mrs. Dunphrey comes through in the best sensitive-English-teacher tradition." Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

Gr 7 UpSixteen-year-old Tish Bonner is a nonachieving, back-row student in Mrs. Dunphrey's English class as well as in all of her other classes. Her personal life reveals the same bleakness. Her parents' relationship is combative and unstable. Her father splits every time things get difficult. Her mother can't get her act together and takes off to look for her husband, leaving her two children alone with no money. Tish describes her plight in a journal that Mrs. Dunphrey has all of the class do as a writing assignment, with the promise that she will not read the entries if the students ask her not to. Most of what Tish writes is off-limits to her teacher until her situation becomes so desperate that her journal entries become a cry for help. This contemporary story realistically depicts the sad home life of a dysfunctional family and the burden put on young people to cope with adult problems. Tish's journal entries have an authentic ring in phrasing and tone and will keep readers involved. Although the teacher's solution of having Tish and her younger brother to stay with her temporarily may be a stretch, the resolution provides this teen with a well-deserved break since she has struggled so hard to help herself and her brother. A brief, serious look at a young person who is isolated and faced with some seemingly overwhelming problems.Carol Schene, Taunton Public Schools, MA

"The peeking-into-a-life appeal of the journal format combined with the realism of Tish's plight will satisfy readers looking for high drama with a gritty edge."—BCCB

Tish’s assignment in her sophomore English class is to write in a journal at least twice each week. Any entry can be marked “do not read,” and Tish’s entries are mostly forbidden to the teacher as she writes about the disintegration of her family. She begins with her often absent and abusive father leaving for good, her mother leaving to find her husband, and her own desperate attempts to support herself and take care of her 8-year-old brother. Finally, Tish’s last entry begs Mrs. Dunphrey to read the entire journal and help her. Bresnahan’s performance is outstanding; not only is she persuasive as a teenage girl, with a light, young voice, but she manages to strike just the right note as she reads the entries. With books that are written in diary or journal form, which tend to be more introspective than action-packed, it’s always a challenge to inject the narration with enough drama to keep the listener’s interest. This interpretation is especially effective and succeeds better in audio format than in print. S.S.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine