Diary of a Dying Girl, by Mallory Smith, captures the quintessential coming of age through compelling diary entries recorded over a ten-year period. Her journey encompasses the struggles of body image, the turbulence of adolescence, the mental health stresses that often accompany these defining years, and the tug-of-war between autonomy and parental attachment that young adults often grapple with. It’s a journey that takes on an extraordinary urgency because of Mallory’s lifelong battle with a superbug, the result of having cystic fibrosis. This is a chronicle of a real life. Of a girl trying to make sense of the world and her place in it. A girl, who at age 11, learned that a resistant bacteria had taken up residence in her body and changed the calculation of her future. Mallory’s reflections through it all are a magnet for those seeking stories that mirror the complexities of their own lives. Her prose is unflinchingly raw, her insights imbued with a wisdom that belies her years — and her spirit.
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Nonfiction
Diary of a Dying Girl
- From the Publisher
September 1, 2023
Discussion Questions
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