Bibliography of young people’s diaries and journals:

These are examples of diaries and journals that have been preserved, some old, some new, all kept by young writers. This is by no means a complete list. Email me good additions, please!

Unfortunately, the preponderance of the journals that have been published come from wartime, including the most famous juvenile journal of all, Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank.

After You Lose Someone You Love: Advice and Insight from the Diaries of Three Kids Who’ve Been There, 2005, published by Free Spirit Publishing.

A compilation of diary entries from three siblings after the death of their father. They are not very inspired writers but they do address the many issues faced by kids after the sudden loss of a parent. This one could be useful for children suffering a similar loss. It may also encourage them to express their grief in written form; a healthy way to vent.

Al-Windawi, Thura, Thura’s Diary: My Life in Wartime Iraq, 2004, published by Viking.

Although Thura’s family suffered under the repressive regime of Saddam Hussein you may be surprised at some of her reactions to the toppling of that regime. A particular value of this diary is giving young readers a chance not only to see current events through the eyes of a young witness, one who must live through the day-to-day consequences of this military action, but to get a non-American take on the war.

The Diaries, Letters, and Memoirs series from Capstone Press is a collection of historical diaries. Each features the diary entries of a young writer, plus images and information about the period in which the diary was written. Titles include:

Boyhood Diary of Charles Lindbergh, 1913-1916, The: Early Adventures of the Famous Aviator

Boyhood Diary of Theodore Roosevelt, 1869-1870, The: Early Travels of the 26th U.S. President

Civil War Drummer Boy, A: The Diary of William Bircher, 1861-1865

Colonial Quaker Girl, A: The Diary of Sally Wister, 1777-1778

Confederate Girl, A: The Diary of Carrie Berry, 1864

Covered Wagon Girl, A: The Diary of Sallie Hester, 1849-1850

Free Black Girl Before the Civil War, A: The Diary of Charlotte Forten, 1854

Girlhood Diary of Louisa May Alcott, 1843-1846, The: Writings of a Young Author

Girlhood Diary of Wanda Gág, 1908-1909, The: Portrait of a Young Artist

Nineteenth-Century Schoolgirl, A: The Diary of Caroline Cowles Richards, 1852-1855

Pioneer Farm Girl, A: The Diary of Sarah Gillespie, 1877-1878

Whaling Captain's Daughter, A: The Diary of Laura Jernegan, 1868-1871

Diaries, Letters, and Memoirs: This is the title to order if you want all the books in the series.

Click to view this series online... 

Filipovic, Zlata, Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo, 1994, published by Viking

Zlata’s diary begins as she enters the fifth grade. Her interests include tennis, music and joining a Madonna fan club. As is common in war diaries, normal life is clearly evident before the descent into chaos—and even after vestiges of normal life persist. In the darkest of times Zlata still addresses her diary entries to “Dear Mimmy,” her pet goldfish.

Frank, Anne, The Diary of a Young Girl, multiple publishers.

This book has become the standard by which juvenile diaries are measured. Anne Frank was a diarist during remarkable times, but the diary is equally distinguished by the quality of her writing, the astuteness of her observations, and the generous humanity with which she viewed the world.

The Freedom Writers Diary : How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them, 1999, published by Main Street Books.

This book is one teacher’s struggle to connect students in a crime-ridden area of Los Angeles to other young people in situations of conflict by introducing them to wartime diaries. Her students also keep and share their own diaries. The student writing in this book is remarkable. The book has recently been made into a movie.

Halilbegovich, Nadja, My Childhood Under Fire: A Sarajevo Diary, 2006, published by Kids Can Press.

Like Zlata’s Diary, this is a child’s account of life during the Yugoslav war. “For how long will my life consist of the dead space between two explosions?”

Holliday, Laurel, Why Do They Hate Me? Young Lives Caught in War and Conflict. 1999, published by Pocket Books.

Juvenile diary entries from three conflicts: The Holocaust and WWII, “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland, and the Israeli, Palestinian Conflict.

Ma Yan, The Diary of Ma Yan: The Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese Schoolgirl, 2004, published by Harper Collins

This is the account of a girl in rural China who struggles to overcome poverty through education. The publication of her diary has led to the founding of an international organization to help children like Ma Yan.

Whiteley, Opal, Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart, currently available from Three Rivers Press.

This is perhaps the most unusual journal I have ever read. The writer was six when she began keeping it. It begins: “My mother and father are gone. The man did say they went to heaven and do live with God, but it is lonesome without them.” Opal was given to a lumberjack’s wife to raise, and lived an isolated childhood in Oregon lumber camps. The language in this book is so imaginative that it borders on the magical.

Stolen Voices: Young People’s War Diaries, From World War I to Iraq, 2006, published by Penguin.

One of the editors of this collection is Zlata Filipovic and the book contains excerpts from her best-selling diary. In all, fourteen different diarists (some of whom did not survive the conflict they report on) tell the story of life in a wartime situation.

Zapruder, Alexandra, Salvaged Pages: Young Writers Diaries of the Holocaust, 2002, published by Yale University Press.

This book collects diary entries from the inspired to the mundane. It attempts to give a broad picture of the Holocaust from witnesses, some of whom survived, some of whom perished. This collection seeks to add voices to the one we all know, which is that of Anne Frank.