The Diary of Pelly D

This novel begins with Tony V who discovers a buried diary and starts secretly reading it. The novel switches between entries from the diary and "real-time" narrative of what is happening with Tony V. This novel would be excellent to pair with a holocaust study. As I was reading the entries from Pelly D's diary describing her gradual shift from being one of the elite to one of the outcasts, I was reminded of the accounts I've read about European Jews experiencing the same kind of shift.

Two stories parallel one another here in the same physical location: an unthinking, uneducated young laborer is tearing apart and carting away a destroyed city, some time in the far future when mankind has evolved gills and has settled on far away planets. He finds a diary hidden in the ruins. Although he can barely read, he gradually becomes immersed in the privileged life of the writer. Through the diary he learns of his people's own recent history, a history that has become obscured through propaganda and his current leader's efforts to erase all vestiges of the recent past. The diary itself is a powerful record of arbitrary racial classifications, loss of privileges, ghettoization, and ultimately deportation. It gradually dawns on the laborer that the writer is not coming back, and why. You are left with a sense that, in a world where all computerized records have been erased, the existence of this written record of events might be the only thing that could spark a revolt against the leader's attempt to eliminate historical memory. This novel could very appropriately be read in any middle school or high school class on World War II or the Holocaust. It is not at all clear to me why the School Library Journal gave the book such a mediocre review; quite apart from the compelling message, I think any teen would have a hard time putting this down.

Sickly fascinating. A perfectly normal girl living the life and her world spirals into hell. So easily with so little resistance all of her friends and even family turn on her so that they may benefit. Jesus. Definitely a keeper. I'm still sick to my stomach.

The people have already left Earth, and have moved on to a different planet. Technology has increased in remarkable ways, and we have developed gills. Pelly D lives a privileged life and has everything that she wanted. But she discoveres a terrible secret and nightmares become reality. This book was disturbing and very strange. The book is a great science fiction read, and it will make you think about what the future truly holds for us, humans.

pelly d's diary is a haunting sci-fi read. the author seems to have little hope for the future of humankind. even though we have moved on to other planets, evolved to have gills, and created new worlds, we (humans) are still a bunch of prejudiced you know whats...rings true. sigh. the ending leaves the reader with more questions than when the book started, which keeps it in your head for long after you've put it down. i keep hearing that its a new take on the holocaust, but i didn't see it as clearly as that. it was a war book and felt real, but whether it was based on the holocaust is incidental to me...it was definately genocide though, and the book is scary for sure. though provoking and a good read.