Adolescence

Adrian's diary conveys all the surprises and insecurities of adolescence in a comic way. He discovers for the first time what it is to be in love when a new girl, Pandora, joins his class, and suffers agonies when she chooses to go out with his best friend, Nigel, for a time. He frequently wakes up with spots on his face and frets that they are affecting his life. Pandora assures him that she doesn't mind his spots, but he thinks her kisses are less passionate as a result. His curiosity about sex increases too, and only the level-headedness of Pandora prevents him from finding out more. His sense of himself and his abilities are frequently at odds with reality. His poetry and his prose, for example, are terrible, yet he persists in thinking it is good enough to be accepted by the BBC, the national TV and...