California Diaries

[lcsm_12]

When the CDs first came out, I didn't read any of them. Yesterday,  I read  CD # 1, which is Dawn's. And I was surprised. I knew they were mature themes and they delt with themes such as anorexia and Sunny's mom's cancer, but I wasn't expecting this.

These were the three main surprises:

1) Sunny gets drunk. I never expected someone like Sunny to get

Comments

[nothingtolose19]

Oh, I was completely shocked! I bought three: #1 of Dawn's, Maggie's, and Ducky's, on a yard sale, because I thought they looked interesting and saw that they were by AMM. Stupid me, it didn't click that they were a spin-off from the BSC until I was reading Dawn's diary about her missing her friends in Stoneybrook and I was like 'What??' Then I realized. I was soooo shocked about the drunk part, and also about the fact that the word 'Hell' is in there as well. Wow. Such heavy material.

[lcsm_12]

I forgot about the word "hell"! Very heave material. Can you imagine younger children who bought these books, thinking that they were good books, because of the BSC, and the shock seeing Sunny drunk?

[stone_poney]

I read them when I was a kid and for some strange reason it never registered with me lol. Now when I read them I'm like O_O
Maybe some kids are too young to understand and it just goes over their heads, so it doesn't shock them as much as us ;)

[superfroggie]

I know you didn't mean this in a bad way, but I'm still going to pick a bone with the word "good." These books are still "good"; just because they deal with heavier issues and have more intense language doesn't lessen their value.

[lcsm_12]

Oh no! I didn't mean that. I think they're good books, and I've already read Sunny's and started Maggie's, but I think I was so used to the normal BSC, that it shocked me to read about these issues. And I agree, they were aimed for a more mature audience.

[k8_26_2]

I believe you hit the nail on the head here. I remember seeing these books shelved with the BSC and Little Sister books in the juvenile section of the local bookstore. At the time I didn't take much notice, but having read some as an adult I can see where they would have been more appropriately categorized in the YA section. (As a point of reference, I began reading the BSC series when I was 7. I have a 5--in one month--year old son and I can't imagine him reading books about kids getting drunk in a mere two years time.)