Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Lou! Secret Diary by Julien Neel

     Imagine being made fun of in school at 12 years old because of the clothes you chose to wear. Imagine being 12 years old and making your own clothes. This is something that is creative for a 12 year old and it is a skill that Lou had. Lou! Secret Diary is a fiction that focuses on a young 12 year old girl named Lou. It is made out in comic form so that is one thing that make the book interesting to read, although it was a little short. Lou is the main character who is very different from the others at her school. She loves acting, she enjoys making her own clothes and she has a crush on a guy. She has one bestfriend and her mom who is a couch potato and always plays the video games who are the main people in her life. She wants her mom to get up and do something with herself, so she tries to get her mom to hook up with the new guy Richard who just moved in across the hall. Lou introduced us to her cat that sort of came out of nowhere, but she decided to keep it as her very own pet. Eventually in the story Lou's mom starts to hang out with Richard and she starts to like him but she had no courage to tell him and its obvious that he is into her as well. The guy who Lou likes name is Tristan. He and Lou hang out but Lou has no coruage to tell him that she is into him either. He taught Lou how to play the guitar but she just cant tell him that she likes him. The story is quite light but there is a serious part, Lou tells Mina, her bestfriend about her dad and we realize that Lou really has no feelings when it comes to him and the topic because her dad was never around.
     The story ends when the guy from across the hall, Richard leaves for the summer and Lou's mom is sad because she never got the chance to tell him how she felt. Just as Lou builds up enough courage to tell Tristan how she feels, she walks to his apartment and see's that it is empty. He moved away without telling Lou and now she is sad. She and her mom are both sad and laying around the house and the book suddenly ends. There is a part two to the book and I knew it would be because the ending left me wondering. I think Julien Neel did a good job with the book seeing how it was made like a comic strip is what made me want to get to the end. I would recommend this book to a  7th - 10th grade audience.



2 comments:

Laura Coyotl said...

I wish I had the same talent when I was 12 years old, I still don't even know how to sew. Anyway, good job on the summary; it gives enough on the book without ruining the story. I especially liked the ending you told, because it did leave me wondering what will happen to Lou and her mother. The thing I would like to let you know is that there are some words that you accidently added an extra letter or switched the letters for example onw, actingm. Just do a quick spell check. Also don't forget to add some links, to provide additional insight or information about contemporary issues that the text references or discusses. Other than that you did a good job on the summary. I think I am going to read it as well.

Unknown said...

I really enjoyed reading this book review. For some odd reason, it reminded me of Harriet the Spy", it sounds interesting and intriguing. I think that i would list this book in my list of books to read this summer.