When her five-year-old son passed the rigorous entrance exams to one of Japan's top private elementary schools, Makihara, a single mother, thought they were on their way. Taro would wear the historic dark blue uniform and learn alongside other little Einsteins while she basked in the glory of his high achievements with the other perfect moms. Together they would climb the rungs into the country's successful elite. But it didn't turn out that way. Taro had other things in mind.While set in Japan, their struggles in the school's hyper-competitive environment mirror those faced by parents here in the US and raise the same questions about the best way to educate a child—especially one that doesn’t quite fit the mold. Public or private? Competitive or nurturing? Standardized or individualized. Helicopter parenting or free-range? Amid this frenzied debate, how does one find balance and maintain a healthy parent-child relationship? Dear Diary Boy is an intensely personal, heartwarming, and heartbreaking chronicle of one mother and child's experience in a prestigious private Tokyo school. It's a tale that will resonate with all parents as we try to answer the age-old questions of how best to educate our children and what, truly, is in their best interests versus what is in our own.

Lesley Arfin kept a diary during the apocalypse that was her adolescence, chronicling her depression from being bullied in the 10th grade and her discovery of heroin. Lesley told her diary everything. Now in her 20s, Lesley has returned to her journal and added new comments that only an adult looking back on their own life can perceive. Most of these are in the vein of What the hell was I talking about?' Lesley's hilarious updates remind readers how heavy it all seemed back then and how irrelevant it all really is in the face of adulthood.'

That's Alex Smith rushing past you, hurrying home to check out his journal. Why? Because Alex has never written a word in his journal, but yesterday, a mysterious entry appeared in the book – one that told Alex about the future. Alex can't wait to read the journal tonight to find out if there's anything new inside. Too bad he doesn't realize that by opening that book, he's opening the door to...The Nightmare Room

Middle schooler Jamie Kelly returns with another dumb diary: “You’ll laugh out loud at what this girl has to say.” —Knight Ridder Tribune Dear Dumb Diary, I went five whole days without seeing or hearing from Angeline. I was beginning to get used to it. It’s true that I have learned to overlook many of Angeline’s flaws, like her flawlessness, but she can still be difficult to be around. Like when she’s lit perfectly, for example. To my extreme credit, I have learned to pretend to ignore Angeline’s failure to not be perfect. Jamie Kelly is back with an all-new, all-funny diary! But she has no idea that anybody is reading it. So please, please, please don’t tell her . . . Praise for New York Times–bestselling author Jim Benton’s books “An amusing antic sensibility.” —Publishers Weekly “Preteens will be onboard immediately.” —Kirkus Reviews

From USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn comes a forbidden romance about an Irish rebel who falls in love with the wrong girl.Dear Diary, I might have gotten myself into a wee bit of trouble-and I'm not talking about the "court mandated community service," or "therapy sessions from bashing a bloke in the head" kind of trouble. I wish it were that simple. Nope. I'm talking about the "falling in love with one of my client's daughters," kind of trouble . . . The kind of problem I can't talk my way out of when the truth gets out.How I ended up with her phone is a long story-and when she called to get it back, I took things a bit too far. One innocent exchange wound up leading to so much more.Fun, new, and totally immune to my charm, Sutton is different. And I had no idea she was the daughter of Foster Green. Blame it on the dark colored stout running through my veins, pushing me toward one bad decision after another. Pushing me toward her even though I know right from wrong; even though she's my client's daughter. Dating her might be the best or worst decision I've ever made. Only time, whiskey, and one more roll around the mattress with her will tell. Roark

A Schoolboy’s Diary brings together more than seventy of Robert Walser’s strange and wonderful stories, most never before available in English. Opening with a sequence from Walser’s first book, “Fritz Kocher’s Essays,” the complete classroom assignments of a fictional boy who has met a tragically early death, this selection ranges from sketches of uncomprehending editors, overly passionate readers, and dreamy artists to tales of devilish adultery, sexual encounters on a train, and Walser’s service in World War I. Throughout, Walser’s careening, confounding, delicious voice holds the reader transfixed.