Top ten diary books

Rebecca Westcott was born in Chester. She went to Exeter University to train as a teacher and has had a variety of teaching jobs that have taken her to some very interesting places, including a Category C male prison. She started writing a diary when she was 8 years old, although she had no idea that one day her entries would be used to help her write a novel. Westcott's debut novel, Dandelion Clocks, follows the diary of 11-year-old Liv from thirteen weeks before to six months after the death of her much-loved mother from cancer.

One of Westcott's top ten diary books, as shared at the Guardian:

Artichoke Hearts by Sita Brahmachari

12-year-old Mira's beloved Nana Josie is dying. There is no doubt about this – Nana has plans to decorate her own coffin and when it arrives on Mira's birthday it's clear that Nana hasn't got long to go. At the same time, Mira joins a writing club at school where she is encouraged to write a diary. The timing is perfect. Things are changing and Mira is suddenly less keen to confide in her best friend. The diary becomes her keeper of secrets. This is a beautiful book, full of what it means to love and be loved. It also contains the sentence I most wish I had written. It's a sentence that keeps coming back to me and could be the opening line to a thousand different stories. "You can have too much history when you're only twelve years old." Sita Brahmachari has created characters that leave you longing to know more about them and their lives.

Learn about the other entries on the list.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Sita Brahmachari and Ringo Star.

--Marshal Zeringue