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blankcrayon's review
2.0
This book was not boring and kept me reading, yet I did not like it because I did not think it a quality book for young adults. The series is written from the perspective of teenager's writing in their "diaries". There are so many books in the series that it is impossible for them to be excellent quality, they come off to me as money makers. My children's literature professor believed that in a classroom library, only award winning books should be included and I agree. Enjoyable read, but not classroom material.
lorien13's review
4.0
Another great book in this series. Wow. Ducky is perhaps my favorite character. He needs to speak up more, but wow he handles things really well.
I cried reading about Alex. As someone with depression, I've been there. I know what that's like. And unlike Alex I know it can get better, and that you have to hold onto life one moment at a time. It was beautifully written and I just really like this book.
I cried reading about Alex. As someone with depression, I've been there. I know what that's like. And unlike Alex I know it can get better, and that you have to hold onto life one moment at a time. It was beautifully written and I just really like this book.
finesilkflower's review
4.0
Ducky has identity crises.
We join 16-year-old retro fashion enthusiast/wisecracker/amateur chauffeur Ducky at a transition point in his life. He is drifting from his childhood friends, Alex and Jay. Jay has become a stereotypical jock--what Ducky calls a "Cro Mag"--while Ducky is the typical target of jokes and bullying by that crowd. Ducky and Jay make several attempts to understand each other, each of which ends disastrously. Alex, meanwhile, is deeply depressed and uninterested in anything. So we end on something of a cliffhanger.
This was my favorite California Diary when I originally read them five years ago (I was 23, still way too old to be reading these), because I am sexist and love men, apparently. (The two "Reader's Choice" Logan books were also my favorite BSC books.) Now I find them a bit tiresome, especially the opening sections where Ducky grapples with Who He Is. A little of Ducky's signature blend of 90% brooding, 10% corny wisecracks can go a long way, which I guess is also what his friends think, so it's in-character.
Still, as the book goes on and the issues become more serious, the reading experience improves. While Ducky's friendship with the thirteen-year-olds seemed confounding in the other books, it makes sense from his point of view: the girls are the only ones who take him seriously. In particular, his friendship with Sunny is sweet and egalitarian; they both open up to each other about their problems, and they both seem to respect each other's unique qualities.
The Other Characters are Wonderful People: While they don't appear much in his book, except for occasional Sunny episodes, Ducky has nothing but good things to say about the other California Diaries narrators. In particular, he notes Sunny's strong f-the-haters attitude (my words, not his) and Dawn's earnest beliefs in environmentalism and health food. Wait, I thought those were Dawn's attributes because she's from California. That's also how she's remarkable in California?
The Ambiguously Gay Ducky: While nobody actually says the word "gay" or any word synonymous with it--not even Ducky, in his narration--the subtext that Ducky is perceived as gay is clear and required to make a lot of it make sense: his concerns about having to walk a certain way so as not to be seen as "flitting"; the impulse that makes him hold back from hugging a male friend lest he be seen by other guys; the anger and shame he inspires in other boys when he gives them flowers for Valentine's Day. (He gives EVERYONE a flower.) Ducky's relationship with Alex in particular seems to hover on the edge of romance, with Alex admitting near the end that the flower was one of the nicest presents he's even gotten.
Ducky never mentions being attracted to anyone or what kind of person he would theoretically be attracted to. He notes that he has never been kissed, and becomes angry when Jay tries to set him up with a girl--angrier than really makes sense unless there's something else going on.
So the question is: Are we to understand that Ducky is gay, but the books are prevented from admitting it openly by the 1997 Scholastic Content Code (if such a thing exists)? Is the conspicuous failure to address the issue head-on, even though he skirts the edge of it, supposed to indicate that Ducky is deeply closeted, even to himself? Or maybe Ducky isn't gay at all, it's just that other people assume he is, but the perception hangs so heavily over the narrative that I feel like it still needs to be addressed.
Timing: Ducky doesn't date most of his entries, but the diary opens shortly before Valentine's day and seems to take about as long as the others, i.e. about a month.
Revised Timeline: My attempt to place the California Diaries in adulthood is a little silly, because they, even more so maybe than the other BSC books, really feel like high school, if not middle school. (Ducky's feelings when he finds out that Alex has been in therapy this whole time are eerily similar to my feelings handling the exact same revelation about the best friend I had a crush on when I was in eighth grade). In particular, if Ducky is so closeted to himself that he can't even think the word "gay," that feels like a high school attitude to me. A 25-year-old in 1998 might still be closeted (although I was out in 1998 and I was 12), but he would probably be more self-aware, right? But maybe we just need to assume that Ducky is openly gay the way we assume that time is passing. Maybe Jay and Alex are both Ducky's exes. Alex really has the feeling of that first love that you still deeply care about and secretly feel you might end up with some day. And Jay is the butch bi guy who's decided to just be straight from now on and keeps trying to make you "grow out of" being gay the same way: that would actually really explain Ducky's level of betrayal and anger when Jay tries to set him up with a girl.
We join 16-year-old retro fashion enthusiast/wisecracker/amateur chauffeur Ducky at a transition point in his life. He is drifting from his childhood friends, Alex and Jay. Jay has become a stereotypical jock--what Ducky calls a "Cro Mag"--while Ducky is the typical target of jokes and bullying by that crowd. Ducky and Jay make several attempts to understand each other, each of which ends disastrously. Alex, meanwhile, is deeply depressed and uninterested in anything.
Spoiler
The book culminates with Ducky and Jay rescuing Alex from a suicide attempt. Ducky stays with Alex all night and makes headway with him, but Alex feels betrayed when Ducky calls his therapist behind his back.This was my favorite California Diary when I originally read them five years ago (I was 23, still way too old to be reading these), because I am sexist and love men, apparently. (The two "Reader's Choice" Logan books were also my favorite BSC books.) Now I find them a bit tiresome, especially the opening sections where Ducky grapples with Who He Is. A little of Ducky's signature blend of 90% brooding, 10% corny wisecracks can go a long way, which I guess is also what his friends think, so it's in-character.
Still, as the book goes on and the issues become more serious, the reading experience improves. While Ducky's friendship with the thirteen-year-olds seemed confounding in the other books, it makes sense from his point of view: the girls are the only ones who take him seriously. In particular, his friendship with Sunny is sweet and egalitarian; they both open up to each other about their problems, and they both seem to respect each other's unique qualities.
The Other Characters are Wonderful People: While they don't appear much in his book, except for occasional Sunny episodes, Ducky has nothing but good things to say about the other California Diaries narrators. In particular, he notes Sunny's strong f-the-haters attitude (my words, not his) and Dawn's earnest beliefs in environmentalism and health food. Wait, I thought those were Dawn's attributes because she's from California. That's also how she's remarkable in California?
The Ambiguously Gay Ducky: While nobody actually says the word "gay" or any word synonymous with it--not even Ducky, in his narration--the subtext that Ducky is perceived as gay is clear and required to make a lot of it make sense: his concerns about having to walk a certain way so as not to be seen as "flitting"; the impulse that makes him hold back from hugging a male friend lest he be seen by other guys; the anger and shame he inspires in other boys when he gives them flowers for Valentine's Day. (He gives EVERYONE a flower.) Ducky's relationship with Alex in particular seems to hover on the edge of romance, with Alex admitting near the end that the flower was one of the nicest presents he's even gotten.
Ducky never mentions being attracted to anyone or what kind of person he would theoretically be attracted to. He notes that he has never been kissed, and becomes angry when Jay tries to set him up with a girl--angrier than really makes sense unless there's something else going on.
So the question is: Are we to understand that Ducky is gay, but the books are prevented from admitting it openly by the 1997 Scholastic Content Code (if such a thing exists)? Is the conspicuous failure to address the issue head-on, even though he skirts the edge of it, supposed to indicate that Ducky is deeply closeted, even to himself? Or maybe Ducky isn't gay at all, it's just that other people assume he is, but the perception hangs so heavily over the narrative that I feel like it still needs to be addressed.
Timing: Ducky doesn't date most of his entries, but the diary opens shortly before Valentine's day and seems to take about as long as the others, i.e. about a month.
Revised Timeline: My attempt to place the California Diaries in adulthood is a little silly, because they, even more so maybe than the other BSC books, really feel like high school, if not middle school. (Ducky's feelings when he finds out that Alex has been in therapy this whole time are eerily similar to my feelings handling the exact same revelation about the best friend I had a crush on when I was in eighth grade). In particular, if Ducky is so closeted to himself that he can't even think the word "gay," that feels like a high school attitude to me. A 25-year-old in 1998 might still be closeted (although I was out in 1998 and I was 12), but he would probably be more self-aware, right? But maybe we just need to assume that Ducky is openly gay the way we assume that time is passing. Maybe Jay and Alex are both Ducky's exes. Alex really has the feeling of that first love that you still deeply care about and secretly feel you might end up with some day. And Jay is the butch bi guy who's decided to just be straight from now on and keeps trying to make you "grow out of" being gay the same way: that would actually really explain Ducky's level of betrayal and anger when Jay tries to set him up with a girl.
xtinamorse's review
Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/california-diaries-5-ducky
sarahhatchet's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
xeni's review
1.0
The California Diaries were interesting for me because I lived in California when I read them. Otherwise, they were boring, teenage drivel which held no interest for me. I didn't learn much from them... in fact I'd go so far as to say that they killed some of my brain cells. Lame. Not much else to say to them, really.
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