I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: 6 Word Memoirs by Teens Famous and Obscure

Title: I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets
Author: edited by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser at Smith Magazine
Release Date: September 1, 2009

Summary from Amazon:
One life. Six words. What's yours?

True tales of love, loss, good friends, and bad hair days filled Not Quite What I Was Planning, the New York Times bestselling first book in the Six-Word Memoir series—and an international phenomenon. Some of the most compelling were by teens, so now SMITH Magazine has compiled a book written entirely by these bold, brash truth-tellers. From cancer to creativity, prom dates to promiscuity, and breaking hearts to breaking laws, the memoirs in this collection reveal that often the youngest writers have the most fascinating stories to tell.

Met online; love before first sight.

Hair's pink to piss you off.

I fulfilled my awkwardness quota today.

I'm seventeen, engaged, and not pregnant.

My mom had my boyfriend deported.

Late for school every single day.

According to Facebook, we broke up.

Written Review:

This review is a little harder to write then some of my past reviews because this isn’t a book to sit down and read from cover to cover (though you most definitely could do that without getting tired of it a bit). There are no stable characters, plot line, or voice like a typical novel would have. But that’s all because this isn’t a typical novel.

SMITH Magazine has captured so many unique stories in just a few short words in just one short book. There are those that make you laugh, those that make you think, those that make you happy, those that make you sad, and those few memoirs that are so relatable that you read them again and again, wondering how some teen from somewhere you don’t know has put your whole life into six words with as much depth and honesty as they did.

I recommend every teen to have a copy of this book to read and remind yourself that you aren’t alone in all of your struggles and emotions. I applaud these teens for having the ability to share so much of their life when their restricted to only six little words.

Overall, I CAN’T KEEP MY OWN SECRETS is a quick read that is entertaining and heartbreaking and then entertaining again. With such a vast array of teen writers (and there truly are some talented ones in there) there is easily something for everyone to relate to and everyone to enjoy.

This is a book you can read over and over, each time discovering something new and refreshing. It’s another great addition to the 6 word memoirs collection and I definitely recommend buying a copy if you don’t already have one.

__________________________________________________

Thanks.

Jill

P.S. Did you know that another fellow blogger (The Compulsive Reader) has her very own entry that made it into the book!?! I think the whole book’s worth checking out just for that...

P.P.S. Check out the trailer. It's really well done and definitely gives you a taste of what this book is like.