Customer Reviews

The Top-Secret Journal of Fiona Claire Jardin

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

 

 

I have very few favorite books, and this one is in my all-time favorite list. I bought this book as a fifth or sixth grader, I can't remember. Anyway, I've read it about 20 times and I love it. I've never had my parents go through divorce, so it was very interesting to find out what it's like to have your parents go through a divorce and live in two different houses through the eyes of a person my age at the time. The book, Fiona's Private Pages, I plan to read because I loved this book so much. I'm now in 8th grade and still read it when there's no other books to read. I highly recomend this book.

I gave this book five stars, not because I believe it is the greatest book of all time, or because I believe there is anything exeptional about the writing style but because it is so real,vivid and gut-wretchingly-run-over-a-toad-on-the-highway-peanut-butter-and-jelly honest. I confess, one of the things I like best about this book is that Fiona's diary doesn't quote whole conversations. This is something that is very common in the Dear America series. It annoys me very much because I think there are VERY few people who can recall whole conversations and recall exactly what was said. It's not realistic! It also annoys me because people don't really write journals and letters with conversations in context. You might as well be writing from a narrative point of view then. This is the kind of "realism" that I find so delightful in this story. Fiona's tale doesn't stand out as a milestone in literature, or a groundbreaking life lesson. It's about an 10/11 year old who struggles through day-to-day life, someone all girls can really relate to. At the same time Fiona's unique character and busy life brings sparkle to the page. The people in Cruise's book are all wonderfully sketched. They have shape and dimension and just breathe with life. This book is a very good read for adolescents. The story deals a lot with family and the divorce of Fiona's parents. The book can help kids to realize that therapists are okay people, and it's okay to have problems as long as you don't keep them hidden forever. In Fiona's world, many things are not fair and many things are not right but life is never boring. If you read this book and liked it, I recommend Fiona's Private Pages, a sequel which I found equally good. I personally also like the covers on these books, they are collages of little bric-a-brac and objects from Fiona's life.

This is a great book about a girl growing up and having to deal with changes in mainly family and friends. These are all her journal enteries. I would recommend it to everyone. It's fantastic.

This is definitely not a great book. The writing is not very good, but the plot is. This is a fun read, but not a great one. The main character is an 11 year girl in 6th grade whose parents have just announced that they are getting a divorce. The book follows Fiona's life through her year as she meets new friends, goes to a therapist, and adjusts to family changes. A good read, not a great one.

I really enjoyed this book. The book is about Fiona. She is about 11 for most of the book. Fiona is told she must keep a diary for her thoughts, especially the thoughts about her parent's recent divorce.

I would recommend this book to 5th and 6th grade girls or if there was a divorce in a girl's family.

Fiona's life changes a lot after her parent's divorce and it's great to hear how "terrible" her life is now.

This book is really fun to read, even over summer vacation.

My 12 year old and I have both read this book and I know that she has read it more than once. I enjoyed this story because it takes you on an 11 year old's journey through life and makes you realize how we all have problems that we must deal with and gave suggestions on how to overcome them. It also reminded me, as an adult, about some of the "minor" things that were so important to me at that age, and that may be so important to my children now. Although the main issue in this book is divorce, I think children not living this situation would enjoy this book because it is fun to read and everyone seems to know someone with divorced parents. It can help children relate to others and understand.

Maybe this book could be a useful emotional tool for an 8-11 year old girl dealing with her parents' divorce. The author relates a lot of day-to-day minutae that kids of divorce must go through to one degree or another, and the book might help someone see that they're not alone in their situation.

As youth fiction, it was just marginal. I didn't really hear a 10-11 year old girl talking - more like an adult trying to sound like a 10-11 year old girl. It was just not an authentic voice speaking from the pages.

This is definitely not a great book. The writing is not very good, but the plot is. This is a fun read, but not a great one. The main character is an 11 year girl in 6th grade whose parents have just announced that they are getting a divorce. The book follows Fiona's life through her year as she meets new friends, goes to a therapist, and adjusts to family changes. A good read, not a great one.

this book is very good. i've read it more than 3 times. i reccomend it to any girl with her family that is divorced. If you have a life like that you cAN definatly relate to it. read it!