The International Writers Magazine: Teen Book Review

Della says OMG! By Keris Stainton Orchard (6 May 2010) ISBN-13: 978-1408304273 • Joanna Maclean Good girls keep diaries. Bad girls don’t have time.

The idea of this book really appealed to me as I have written a diary since I was a little girl, and yes I admit it I used to hide it anywhere I could because the thought of anyone finding it scared me a lot. If anyone read it now it would be so cringe worthy. I can completely empathise with the protagonist Della, who’s diary goes missing. The book can be quite nostalgic and take you back to your teenage years of having your first crush and just kissing them for ages. You can’t help get sucked into the book and fall in love with the characters, especially Dan you can imagine how good looking he is.

I enjoyed ‘Della says Omg’ by Keris Stainton. It is a 21st century book aimed at teenagers and even has a warning sign on the back stating ‘Contains strong language. Not suitable for younger readers.’ I think that's good advice.

This book is perfect for teenagers that are older than 16. In a way it’s up to their parents what age read these types of books, but I probably wouldn't let my under 16 read a book like this. It captures a teenage life perfectly with all the worries from boy troubles to what age they should be having sex. There is a lot of strong language throughout the book.

‘Della says OMG’ is basically about a young girl called Della who goes through a lot, worrying about when the right time to have sex is and the fact she feels like a spare part in her family. Her mum was a model in her younger years and her sister Jamie has inherited her mum’s looks. Della compares herself to her mum and her sister constantly and believes she is ugly, and also fantasises about getting together with a boy Dan. Later Della’s diary goes missing and pages of her diary come back to haunt her on Facebook. Who is doing this and why?

Keris Stainton has completely captured everything that a teenager goes through and thinks about. I completely enjoyed this book and found it funny in some places, but I would make the age for an older reader as I just don’t agree with talking about sex at a teenage year. Especially when there is a lot of teenage pregnancies going around. Maybe that is just the way I have been brought up and my mum would not be happy with me reading this book in my teenage years. I think I would have been too embarrassed to read this. Even so it is a fantastic book and I would recommend people to read it, if their comfortable with the subjects at hand.
© Joanna Maclean - currently studying for her degree at Portsmouth Univesity
see more about Keris Stainton here -
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