Phoebes Diary

Phoebe swings between extremes. One moment she feels confident and full of possibility, the next she is painfully unsure of herself. She is gifted and fragile, desirable yet clumsy, driven but often lost, euphoric one day and heartbroken the next. Her pages are illustrated entries that record the highs and lows of being a teenager.

Through her diary we follow her friendships, her crushes, and a new romance, along with her love of vintage clothing and the mixtures of songs she keeps. She moves between drama students and art kids, and old hurts resurface as she tries to make sense of them.

The book is drawn from Phoebe Wahl's own teenage diary, which she reshaped into a blend of memoir and invention. Drawings and handwritten text work together on each page, so the images and words carry the story jointly, and the result is meant to immerse readers in what it feels like to grow up.