Diary

Berrybrook Middle School

by Svetlana Chmakova

The newest addition of the Berrybrook Middle School series, Diary, is a very special journal including not only sticker sheets and "one sketch a day" pages but also brand new stories from the author set in the Berrybrook universe! Find out all about Peppi's and Jaime's project, write your own daily entries right next to Jensen's journal pages, and take a glimpse at the new life of a familiar face who's moved to a new town!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Comics, Fiction, Short Stories, Graphic Novels Comics, Childrens

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 2019

About the author

Svetlana Chmakova (Russian: Светлана Шмакова) (born 1979 in Russia) is a comic creator. She is best known for Dramacon, an original English-language (OEL) manga spanning three volumes and published in North America by Tokyopop. Her other work includes the 2-page The Adventures of CG for CosmoGIRL! magazine and the webcomic Chasing Rainbows for Girlamatic. Though born in Russia, she immigrated to Canada, where she graduated from the Sheridan College Classical Animation program, in 2002. She then began to publish her manga on the Internet, where her works were found by CosmoGirl! magazine.

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most certainly a wonderful addition to the Berrybrook Middle School Series, but a bit of a disappointment if you were hoping for the newest title to be a full-length graphic novel. The short stories included were varied and each featured different characters. Love that! This book would make an excellent gift for a middle grade student giving them the opportunity to practice their sketching, write journal entries and have their own calendar for 18 months. In the "One Sketch a Day" section, there are occasional suggestions and some made me smile like "Draw a snail wearing a raincoat in the rain" or "Draw your favorite food with faces." The back of the books has this quote: "PLAN your months, learn how to DRAW, WRITE your journals, and READ brand-new short stories!

[Piyali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am sure some will like what she did here but I was really looking forward to a solid Svetlana Chmakova story and I did not get it. The short stories were sweet and insightful but I wanted more of them.

[Citrus · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME BOOK! I have a paperback version at home, and I enjoyed it a lot! The graphics are awesome as always, the comics were great, and the activities were cool! I love this book SO MUCH!!!

[Ken Yuen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The two (and a half) short stories were cute as always. Always love the little sprinkles of social issues and real life issues without it being too overly serious.

Half of the book is an actual diary with a calendar, lined pages for writing notes, pages to sketch, and stickers. I can see a kid really enjoying this or making a lot of use for it, but it's not useful to me, an adult. And I don't see many libraries having it, and assume it's for the same reason. It's a pity since I enjoyed the two regular stories. Looking forward to E!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun interactive diary/graphic novel/sketchbook that shares a few stories about the Berrybrook Middle School kids, both their anxieties and disappointments as well as their successes. The book features a section about cartooning for aspiring artists, blank journaling pages for aspiring writers, and a calendar to record activities and events.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure "read" is the right word for it as it IS a diary but I did like the new stories that were included in it.

[Kaden]

That her books are interesting

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I love the Berrybrook series, this one is more an addendum to the series than an actual entry in it, if that makes sense. There are a few cute little short stories with characters we met in the first three books, plus sections which are truly "diary" pages - sketching prompts, journaling ideas, a blank calendar, etc. It wasn't quite what I'd expected, but that doesn't mean it was bad either.

So the three short stories...

There are different styles, which is pretty fun. Jenson from Brave write his own comic of his space adventures, something frequently mentioned in his own book; things start (possibly??) changing between Jaime and Peppy (who have been shipped by their friends and readers alike for years); and Maribella starts adjusting to her new home. Overall they are typical Berrybrook - cute and sweet with funny moments and with deeper meanings too. I think I was just disappointed because I wanted more! More either of the short stories, or more in a longer story. Just more!

I had wanted a story about Maribella since she disappeared in Awkward. I liked her new story here, but I still wish she'd had her own story. There's just so much to her - perfectionism and parental pressure (very different from Jenny's driven personality in Brave), plus the abusive home life. Lots of potential for a good tale there. I was glad to see her starting to adjust to a new place, but there's a lot more there, should Chmakova ever decide to revisit. Of course, she's not at Berrybrook anymore, so there's that too...

But that doesn't mean that the prompts are disappointing either. The first three books talk a lot about art (two of the leads are in the art club, after all) and her Author Comments sections there always talk about the comic process and designing characters and stories and so on. So a book where she's encouraging young folk to do that themselves makes total sense.

Not as practical from a library perspective (most of the pages are blank diary pages after all). But it came with the box set I bought for my personal library. So I'll enjoy it at home instead!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

13yo Jaime Thompson is a scientist/engineer, and he hates that the kids in the middle school Science Club tease him because he is friends with a girl. Peppi gets teased, too, by the kids in Art Club. They are working together on a Time Capsule project, to be opened in 100 years. But when Jaime sees some artwork of Peppi's (hearts around the name Jesse) his friends tell him she must like someone. Now Jaime's afraid he will lose his friend. Maribella is living temporarily with her grandmother while her parents work out some things. So she's left Berrybrook Middle and is living in an old-fashioned town and going to a new school. She has trouble making friends on her first day but gets invited to a sleepover. It doesn't go well.

Diary is just that. A Diary. Includes an 18-month calendar/scheduler, stickers, 2- 26 page graphic stories; a drawing lesson and 68 "sketch a day" entries, some with ideas; a cartooning tutorial, blank diary pages, and several spots for recorded stuff about your favorite people. A great gift for a fan of the Berrybrook Series, but not recommended as a library purchase (which is unfortunate, as the series is alphabetical - Awkward, Brave, Crush, Diary, Enemies) The characters, as always are multicultural and diverse.

Cross posted to http://kissthebook.blogspot.com

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy the Berrybrook books and this one was not what I expected. If the author wanted to do a diary, then, do one, don't slap short stories in it, it ruined the diary. I would have read and enjoyed a book of short stories or even a novella. My daughter would have liked the diary. But, putting the two together, just doesn't work. Can't put the diary on the book shelf, it's not really a 'reading' type of book. Can't really use the diary, because of the short stories in it. So, this was an epic fail as a book or diary.

However, I read the short stories and they were okay, hence the 2 star. I rated the diary/book on the short stories only. And they were meh.

[Woodrós · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightful! A combination of three short stories from Berrybrook Middle School, a mini, kid friendly version of Felicia Day's book exhorting and supporting creativity, plus the month planners and journal space. And stickers!

Only 3 stars just because it's not a regular book ~ each short story was grand ~ and it does in fact take the "D" spot in the series (Awkward, Brave, Crush, Diary, and the newest, Enemies ~ I wasn't sure when it first came out so the note is for others who might share that question!)

[Hiroko Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diary is the 4th book in the Berrybrook Middle School series, except, it’s a bit different. Similar to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself book, you fill out a lot of it. There are also 3 short stories from your favorite characters from Berrybrook! I haven’t filled everything out, but the short stories were so great and funny! I recommend getting a copy for yourself!(so that you don’t have to write in library books :P)

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ha ha I get it. Took me all of fifteen minutes to read because it is a diary. My daughter and I are enjoying this author but she reads faster than me BUT NoT this one ha ha ha.

Read the other books first. This has short stories spread throughout that add onto other books and many blank pages for diary ish writing and journaling

[Justine Cucchi-Dietlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun! Just a heads up: this is both a diary for a middle grade audience and a collection of short stories. It's a good idea to buy at least this book in the collection so that younglings can fill it out and get the most out of it.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, I just wish there was a little more story in it. I couldn't believe they managed to squeeze in more than 12 months in the front of it. Cute diary for someone who enjoyed the series and wants to start a journal (diary) of their own.

[Sophia]

i’m hoping the 4th book will be as good as the other 3 :,)

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Berrybrook students reappear in a few short stories (which are good!) spaced throughout a fill-in journal. Not super-practical for my middle-school library, but I'll see how it goes.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

most of this book is a diary but there are 3 short stories and I would read anything in Berrybrook Middle School

[Amanda Walz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a journal to write in, but there are a couple of graphic novel shorts, about friends from Berrybrook Middle School.

[M Aghazarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three short stories, so cute. I love her style.

[Srosch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute, fun fill in blanks

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and fun but did not have near the same emotional depth that the rest of the series had.

[David Rhombus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay stories, I just didn’t like all the activity parts because they made me confront the fact that there is nothing interesting about me and I have no friends

[Andréa]

Note: I received a finished copy of this book at ALA Midwinter 2020.

[Graham Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really a book — an activity kit / blank book / sticker book.

[Elizabeth]

Not my favorite. I think the diary format could have been different and with more text to be read.

[Marcie R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how there were new comics with the ornigal middle school characters and new characters too!

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of short graphic novel style stories in the middle of a journal so readers can create their own drawings, etc.
We see a short story about a project of Jaime and Peppi, a cartoon about space travel by Jensen, and a story about Maribella and her new home. They do add to the series.
This one really is a journal with a few other items thrown in.

[Courtenay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure why the public library has a copy of a book that is meant to be written in by the owner... But I enjoyed the two short stories and have had fun revisiting the Awkward, Brave, Crush and Diary series. Is there an "E" book? I would love to see more from Chmakova in this series.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is like a planner/diary/doodle journal with three extra stories in it. The short stories are worth reading.