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Reviewed by Rosie Malezer for Readers' Favorite
Secrets: Diary of a Gutsy Teen is a diarized book written by Barbara Becker Holstein. Reaching a critical point in her life when her mother is pregnant, the family has moved into a new home and the children are about to begin at a new school, a young girl decides to keep a diary of her life. Now thirteen years of age, she leaves behind her very best friend, but keeps in touch via Facebook and telephone. The boy she was madly in love with was also left behind. She bounces back and forth between her love and hate for the new baby for always stealing her thunder, but she quickly makes a new best friend, falls in love with a new boy who, she insists, has a crush on her and, unfortunately, falls victim to the new school’s bullies because of her choice of a new best friend. Keeping a diary is the only way for her to let out her emotions and document everything which is making her crazy, making her laugh, making her cry, and making her thankful for what she has in life.
Barbara Becker Holstein’s book has thrown me back to my own childhood when I kept a diary for all of the same reasons. Many times, I would find myself smiling (or even giggling) while reading, as I rolled my eyes at how ‘true’ are the feelings of the young girl. I was able to relate to almost every single world from when I was a child. I feel that the book would have had even more impact, however, if the girl writing the diary was given a name, even if only mentioned once for the sake of connection. Her obsession with her own looks is a problem which so many young people have, and I was impressed with how Barbara Becker Holstein tackled that issue. Secrets: Diary of a Gutsy Teen is a wonderful book which many younger readers will easily relate to, while taking older readers back to their own childhoods. I recommend this book to readers aged 12 and older, as well as the young at heart. This book should ideally be stocked in the home libraries of families with children and in school libraries worldwide.
