Literary diaries for 8 â 12 year olds
The Diary of Dorkius Maximus in Pompeii by Tim Collins
Awkward 13 year old Dorkius Maximus lives in Ancient Rome and has cleverly written via the pen of Tim Collins a light historical caper of a diary, complete with faux Roman dates.
Philippa Morganâs Diary by Annie Kesley
10 year old Pippa starts a diary to fill a gap in her life when her best friend moves away. Very readable, dealing with some of the common issues for âtweenagersâ.
Pirate diary: the journal of Jake Carpenter by Richard Platt
Based on the life of a 9 year old boy from New England whose ship was captured by pirates. Itâs packed with pirate facts and illustrated by Chris Riddell!
Little Wolfâs diary of daring deeds by Ian Whybrow
What a lie! Little Wolf has not written a diary at all. He has written loads and loads and loads of letters to his mum and dad. But they are jolly good to read, particularly with his phonetic spellings. Oh, and Tony Rossâ illustrations of course.
Road to war: A First World War Girlâs Diary 1916-1917 by Valerie Wilding
The diary documents a year in the life of a young woman driving an ambulance in France during WWI. The expressive narrative should enrich learning from non-fiction books on the subject.
Literary Diaries for teens
The Isobel Journal by Isobel Harrop
Scrapbook documenting the life of the teenage author. Itâs rather like Wreck this journal, but already filled in. Itâs very funny and I loved it.
I capture the castle by Dodie Smith
First published in 1949, itâs still delighting readers 65 years later. It often appears in lists of favourite books and has a local connection too; Dodie Smith once lived near Sudbury and the movie version was filmed at Framlingham Castle.
The Dirt Diary by Anna Staniszewski
This diary is a salvation, and then a liability. 13 year old Rachelâs life hits a new low when her mum sets up a cleaning business employing just her and gets even worse when she has to clean the houses of all her school mates. Her life begins to look up when she captures their secrets in her newly named âdirt diaryâ. Itâs very funny and would make a brilliant film.
Boys donât knit (in public) by T S Easton
An hilarious diary about Ben, a teenage boy who takes up knitting to avoid being sent to a pupil referral unit. In the sequel, he flies to New York to take part in a knitting competition.
The secret diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su & Kate Rorick
Based on a multi-platform adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. You may already have seen it on YouTube or Tumblr, but if not, watch this then read the book. The Guardian says they âlike to think that if Austen were alive now, she might have created something very like thisâ.