A review by lucinda_lesbrarian
Homeroom Diaries by Lisa Papademetriou, Keino, James Patterson
3.0
A cute, quirky read, though not necessarily a game changer: Homeroom Diaries felt like the literary offspring of Wimpy Kid and My Mad Fat Diary, but somehow any emotional clout (which comes across really strongly in My Mad Fat Diary) seemed to get lost in the process. In other words, though Cuckoo's life had some seriously dark chapters, I felt as if the illustrated diary style was holding me at arms length from everything that was happening, The book touches on some seriously heavy topics - attempted suicide, attempted rape, death, abandonment, bullying, etc - but the tone was light enough to keep it feeling like a fun read. I'm just not sure if that worked for me or not!
There were features I really enjoyed though, such as Cuckoo's constant need to rewrite and reimagine stories and characters, and how that played out in her diary (not least because it felt altogether too familiar to me...). The fantasies actually made it feel more believable, and made nice nods and homages to other stories along the way. I also really liked the relationships between characters - particularly Cuckoo and Mrs Morris.
All in all a fun read with a few things to think about, but not a book that's changed my life yet. Though I might go back to doodling in my notebook now, so you never know...
There were features I really enjoyed though, such as Cuckoo's constant need to rewrite and reimagine stories and characters, and how that played out in her diary (not least because it felt altogether too familiar to me...). The fantasies actually made it feel more believable, and made nice nods and homages to other stories along the way. I also really liked the relationships between characters - particularly Cuckoo and Mrs Morris.
All in all a fun read with a few things to think about, but not a book that's changed my life yet. Though I might go back to doodling in my notebook now, so you never know...