Customer Reviews

The Diary of Pelly D

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

pelly d's diary is a haunting sci-fi read. the author seems to have little hope for the future of humankind. even though we have moved on to other planets, evolved to have gills, and created new worlds, we (humans) are still a bunch of prejudiced you know whats...rings true. sigh.
the ending leaves the reader with more questions than when the book started, which keeps it in your head for long after you've put it down. i keep hearing that its a new take on the holocaust, but i didn't see it as clearly as that. it was a war book and felt real, but whether it was based on the holocaust is incidental to me...it was definately genocide though, and the book is scary for sure.
though provoking and a good read.

The people have already left Earth, and have moved on to a different planet. Technology has increased in remarkable ways, and we have developed gills. Pelly D lives a privileged life and has everything that she wanted. But she discoveres a terrible secret and nightmares become reality.

This book was disturbing and very strange. The book is a great science fiction read, and it will make you think about what the future truly holds for us, humans.

As L.J. Adlington's author biography states, her first novel, The Diary of Pelly D, is based on her long time interest in war diaries. The novel is told from the point of view of Tony V, a teenager working on the Citry Five demolition screw. During his work, he discovers the pure fluff of the diary of Pelly D, buried in the old city plaza.

Although she doesn't know it (and refuses to admit when chaos is upon her), Pelly D has written the ultimate war diary, which provides Tony V insight into a historical conflict which was largely covered up by the government. Pelly D is a privileged leader of "cool" who loses everything in the new world order of gene profiling and limited resources. Her journal is that of a rich, petty girl who still manages to endear herself to Tony V and the reader.

My chief complaint about this book is the over-dawn exposition. Adlington spends far too long in the world of scientific and political terms that are foreign to the reader. Discussing this book with librarians and teachers, I've found that several people abandoned the book due to the frustratingly vague opening chapters. I encourage readers to make it to at least the mid-point before making a decision on the novel. The journey is well worth it once the story picks up in the second half.

On a planet called Home from Home, sometime in the future, Toni V works as part of the Demolition Crew. One day, he hits a water can with his drill. Inside he discovers a journal, which begins:

"This is the diary of Pelly D.
It's totally secret,
so if you're reading it
I HATE YOU ALREADY."

Toni V can't resist reading a bit of the journal, and then he's hooked and must read on. He likes Pelly and can't help fantasizing about her, but he's also puzzled. Why did she leave her diary hidden in the city plaza? Why did she scrawl on the front of it, "Dig -- dig everywhere"?

Toni V's story continues, interspersed with entries from Pelly D's diary. He envies her life. Toni V. works hard, resides in a bleak dorm, and lives to swim (naturally, like everyone else, he has gills). Pelly D was the popular girl, the "queen bee" of her group, but she also dreamed of sailing away for an adventure on a ship.

The journal turns serious as Pelly D encounters social class issues based on genetic differences. The groups are topped with the Atsumi class, followed by the Mazzini, and at the bottom of the social hierarchy are the Galrezi. When Pelly D's family undergoes the gene tests to discover which group they belong to, Pelly is in for a shock. Her social and school life --- to say nothing of the relations within her family --- are traumatized by frightening discriminatory moves by the government.

THE DIARY OF PELLY D will make you think, not only about the future but about past injustices as well. It also may make you protest, "This could never happen, right?" But the fact that makes you squirm the most is the knowledge that it can happen...and already has.

[...]

I found this book while browsing at my local library. I tried reading it once, and it seemed so trivial and unimportant. I returned it and forgot about it.

a year later, I saw it again and thought "what every happened to Pelly D after she got kicked out of her holo-pool and lost her street-side friend?" so I borrowed it again and read it through in a few hours.

I got a lot more out of it the second time, I'll say that much right away.

the story is futuristic, it takes place on another planet. the author comes from an evolutionary viewpoint, saying that Pelly D's race has "evolved backwards." they have gills. they're like human-fish. which, in my opinion, is really kind of cool. Pelly D is a beautiful, gorgeous girl who has nothing better to do than slack off in her homework, watch beautiful ships come into harbor, and kiss the new cute boy in town. everyone knows Pelly D can have anyone she wants. everyone knows Pelly D has the best house with the most rooms and the best pool. Everyone knows Pelly D is popular.

but then something changes for Pelly D. the government decides to enforce gene tracing on every citizen. Pelly D finds out that she is descended from (to put it lightly) the most disliked original gene carrier that their new planet was founded with. she is kicked out of her house with her mother and sister, but since her dad doesn't have the gene, he gets to stay "for business purposes." it tears apart the marriage of her parents, her brother leaves so he won't have to go to City 1 to be a slave boy, and Pelly D experiences poverty and prejudice from her former "friends."

this book has a lot of hidden messages in it, and it's not something you can really say in words, let alone out loud. so the author used this book to paint a picture of something. it's more than fiction, it's a statement. like Orwell's 1984, or Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird . it's main focus isn't Pelly D, it's actually judgment, prejudice, and politics.

but, it also has the lighthearted addition of a teenage girl who really couldn't give a rat's poo about anyone but herself.

I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, but I will recommend it. I'll also say this: the ending is good, but it doesn't wrap up the story like most books do, so be ye warned. it's well written (aside from the missing letters, which is part of the author's futuristic style of speech and writing used in the book. example: "v" instead of "very" or "cd" instead of "could.") and the characters are very real.

take a step forward, go onward and upward, and plunge into a very deep, very good book.

[...]

This novel begins with Tony V who discovers a buried diary and starts secretly reading it. The novel switches between entries from the diary and "real-time" narrative of what is happening with Tony V.

This novel would be excellent to pair with a holocaust study. As I was reading the entries from Pelly D's diary describing her gradual shift from being one of the elite to one of the outcasts, I was reminded of the accounts I've read about European Jews experiencing the same kind of shift.

Two stories parallel one another here in the same physical location: an unthinking, uneducated young laborer is tearing apart and carting away a destroyed city, some time in the far future when mankind has evolved gills and has settled on far away planets. He finds a diary hidden in the ruins. Although he can barely read, he gradually becomes immersed in the privileged life of the writer. Through the diary he learns of his people's own recent history, a history that has become obscured through propaganda and his current leader's efforts to erase all vestiges of the recent past. The diary itself is a powerful record of arbitrary racial classifications, loss of privileges, ghettoization, and ultimately deportation. It gradually dawns on the laborer that the writer is not coming back, and why. You are left with a sense that, in a world where all computerized records have been erased, the existence of this written record of events might be the only thing that could spark a revolt against the leader's attempt to eliminate historical memory. This novel could very appropriately be read in any middle school or high school class on World War II or the Holocaust. It is not at all clear to me why the School Library Journal gave the book such a mediocre review; quite apart from the compelling message, I think any teen would have a hard time putting this down.

Sickly fascinating. A perfectly normal girl living the life and her world spirals into hell. So easily with so little resistance all of her friends and even family turn on her so that they may benefit. Jesus. Definitely a keeper. I'm still sick to my stomach.

This is an excellent book for teens, boys and girls, reluctant readers, and readers familiar with history. Although it's sci fi, set on a planet very very much like earth, it won't alienate non sci-fi readers, because the differences are minimal, and mainly serve to set up the political backdrop against which the sometimes narrator Pelly D finds inner strength to face social pressures, and watch her cheeky shallow confidence mature into strong independent courage.

Readers who loved the Princess Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and also slightly darker fare, like Ender's Game, will really enjoy this thought-provoking book.