Homeroom Diaries by James Patterson
James Patterson is one of my favorite authors. This was the first book of his that I have read in more than a year because it appears that I got burnt out on his work. However, I love that he has branched out, and is now writing some young adult stuff. I guess, technically, he has been doing that for a while, if you consider the Maximum Ride books, and I do, but this was so different even than his other YA titles.
This is a lovely combination of prose (diary entries that don't read like typical diary entries), and a graphic novel. The graphic parts are more supplemental, and not 100% necessary to understand the story that is being told, which, for those of us who aren't huge graphic novel fans, is a good thing.
Told from the point of view of Margaret aka Maggie aka Cuckoo aka Kooks, who is a high school student-a junior, probably. Maggie's mother took off, so, after a ten day stint in a mental facility, she has to stay with a foster parent, her next door neighbor, Mrs. Morris. Maggie has a great group of friends, who refer to themselves as the Freakshow. All the Freakshow wants to do is unite the groups at school so high school doesn't suck, but one of the Haters does everything he can to ruin everything.
Reading this, I would like to believe this is what life is like for high schoolers. In some ways, sure, it is, but for the most part, this is too clean. I mean, yes, a girl attempts suicide and that awful Hater boy more or less assaults Maggie, but this is not real life. I know this because I teach high school and I have a teenager. There's a lot more going on. Not only that, the language doesn't match up to what I hear everyday from typical teens. None of this should sway you from reading this book, but if you are looking for something real about high schoolers, this isn't it.
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