SOLVED. Y/A. Schoolboy writes confessional (possibly fictional) diary to teacher [s]

[Alice]

I read this in the late 90s or early 2000s. The boy's English class has to write a diary each lesson. Over the course of the book the boy confesses *SPOILER ALERT* to being involved in the death of a classmate, possibly on a school trip. I vaguely remember some kind of ravine. At the end he protects himself by saying it may all be fictional.

A detail I remember is the female teacher helping the boy with the grammar of ' stank' and 'stunk'.

Please help this has been bugging me for years!

[bookel]

Gary Crew. Let me check title, back in sec...

[bookel]

The House of Tomorrow
by Gary Crew

[Alice]

Thank you! That certainly sounds like the one I'm thinking of. I think I'll have to source it and read it again just to convince myself - also I'm intrigued to find out what I've forgotten about it after all these years. Certainly seems to fit the bill though - I grew up in New Zealand so we had a lot of Australian fiction available.

[bookel]

Yes it's Australian. I've read it and immediately thought of that author before I even finished your first paragraph. It's exactly the one. :)