So Much To Tell You

So Much To Tell You by John Marsden is a beautiful book. It is written though the journal entries of fourteen year old Marina.

Marina is sent away to boarding school. She is not sure she likes it, but it is better than the hospital and better than living with her mother and step-father. She has been through a tragedy and does not talk. At all.

When her English teacher gives her a journal and tells each student to write in it every night, Marina thinks she will not do it. What if he reads it, even though he said he wouldn't? But before long, the journal becomes a great way to get some of her feelings out.

It is not an easy school year - being the only one in the whole dorm who doesn't speak. Eventually, her roommates get used to her and she starts to feel almost comfortable. How will she react when some of the girls start to reach out to her? All she wants is to not be noticed. But they do seem like they are nice...

So Much To Tell You won Australia's 1988 Book of the Year Award and could be included on a list of book all teens should read. It is a well written, easy to read, sensitive look at coping with tragedy. I highly recommend it.

Marsden, John. (1987). So Much To Tell You. New York: Fawcett Books.