Times have changed for today’s teens. That much is very clear when reading Dear Diary, Lesley Arfin’s very open and chilling look back at her life from age 12 to 25. Sex, drugs, addiction. Do all of today’s young girls face the same temptations? Or is it just young girls within a certain segment of the population or in certain areas of the country?

The back cover describes this book as “a collection of a girl’s funniest diary entries from 12 to 25 years old.” Maybe I read this book incorrectly but I didn’t see much that was funny about a 12-year-old girl who was already experiencing sexual foreplay and smoking pot. Who by the 12th grade had lost her virginity in a variety of ways, been drunk, and used pot, acid, and mushrooms. Who, around age 20, became a heroin addict. This woman is lucky to be alive and lucid.

I think this is an important book for parents of teen girls to read… okay, parents of any teenagers. Lesley may not be a typical teen in your home or town but she’s not untypical in some cities. And, on a lighter note, the book design of Dear Diary is one of the best I’ve seen.

From page 170:

DEAR DIARY,

It’s been 1 whole day without heroin. I feel like shit. It’s only gonna get worse. It’s good for me; I can be a normal person again. I can be myself. I can be happy. I miss Darren more than anything. It’s a pain that never goes away. I think about him nonstop. I don’t think I’ve ever loved anybody this much. This distance between us drives me crazy. I’ve done that drive so many times. 3 hours. Give or take a few minutes depending on traffic. What do I want to do with my life? I want to love him as a full-time job. I think this kind of yearning is worse than withdrawing from scag. I feel lost without Darren and dope. How can I find myself again? Without heroin everything is cold and everything hurts. It’s boring. Depressing. You can’t sit still. You can’t sleep. You can’t be happy. But what about before? Was the world like this before dope? I can’t remember anything about myself before dope.

Dear Diary is not the easiest book to read. It’s raw, both in words and emotions. It’s a real life laid bare. It’s not for the faint of heart.