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Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey
A fifteen-year-old uses a class journal to contain a risky secret in this classic from New York Times bestselling author Margaret Peterson Haddix, now with a new trim size and a new line look.
Things are so bad, I feel like I’m going to explode if I don’t do something...
Everyone has to keep a journal in Mrs. Dunphrey’s English class, but the teacher has promised she won’t read any entry marked “Do not read this.” It’s the kind of assignment Tish Bonner, one of the girls with big hair who sit in the back row, usually wouldn’t take very seriously. But right now, Tish desperately needs someone to talk to, even if it’s only a notebook she doesn’t dare let anyone read.
As Tish’s life spins out of control, the entries in her journal become more and more private...and dangerous. Is she risking everything that matters to her by putting the truth on paper? And is she risking more by keeping silent?
Things are so bad, I feel like I’m going to explode if I don’t do something...
Everyone has to keep a journal in Mrs. Dunphrey’s English class, but the teacher has promised she won’t read any entry marked “Do not read this.” It’s the kind of assignment Tish Bonner, one of the girls with big hair who sit in the back row, usually wouldn’t take very seriously. But right now, Tish desperately needs someone to talk to, even if it’s only a notebook she doesn’t dare let anyone read.
As Tish’s life spins out of control, the entries in her journal become more and more private...and dangerous. Is she risking everything that matters to her by putting the truth on paper? And is she risking more by keeping silent?
128 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1997
85 people are currently reading
3754 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Peterson Haddix
132 books6,351 followersMargaret Peterson Haddix grew up on a farm near Washington Court House, Ohio. She graduated from Miami University (of Ohio) with degrees in English/journalism, English/creative writing and history. Before her first book was published, she worked as a newspaper copy editor in Fort Wayne, Indiana; a newspaper reporter in Indianapolis; and a community college instructor and freelance writer in Danville, Illinois.
She has since written more than 25 books for kids and teens, including Running Out of Time; Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey; Leaving Fishers; Just Ella; Turnabout; Takeoffs and Landings; The Girl with 500 Middle Names; Because of Anya; Escape from Memory; Say What?; The House on the Gulf; Double Identity; Dexter the Tough; Uprising; Palace of Mirrors; Claim to Fame; the Shadow Children series; and the Missing series. She also wrote Into the Gauntlet, the tenth book in the 39 Clues series. Her books have been honored with New York Times bestseller status, the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award; American Library Association Best Book and Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers notations; and more than a dozen state reader’s choice awards.
Haddix and her husband, Doug, now live in Columbus, Ohio, with their two children.
She has since written more than 25 books for kids and teens, including Running Out of Time; Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey; Leaving Fishers; Just Ella; Turnabout; Takeoffs and Landings; The Girl with 500 Middle Names; Because of Anya; Escape from Memory; Say What?; The House on the Gulf; Double Identity; Dexter the Tough; Uprising; Palace of Mirrors; Claim to Fame; the Shadow Children series; and the Missing series. She also wrote Into the Gauntlet, the tenth book in the 39 Clues series. Her books have been honored with New York Times bestseller status, the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award; American Library Association Best Book and Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers notations; and more than a dozen state reader’s choice awards.
Haddix and her husband, Doug, now live in Columbus, Ohio, with their two children.
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July 6, 2017
I read this a VERY long time ago, but I changed the way I taught English because of this book. I taught seventh grade English, and every Friday, I gave my students SSW time (that's Silent Sustained WRITING). I wrote two writing prompts on the board that they could choose from, or they always had a choice to write on whatever topic they wanted. The goal was to keep pens moving and not worry about perfect grammar or spelling or sentence structure. Just WRITE.
I also kept my own SSW notebook, and I wrote right along with my students. And when we shared what we wrote (always voluntarily), I sometimes shared my writing with them as well.
Anyway, when I read this book, told my students about Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey, and how the girl in the book started out keeping her journals private from the teacher. She tested her teacher to see if she was really reading them without her permission. Then at the end, she wanted the teacher to read them.
So I did the same in my class. I promised my students that if they wrote "Don't Read This" at the top of their journals, I would not read that selection. They could write this on every entry they wrote, and I honestly would not read any of it. Alternately, they could write "Please read this," and I would read it and respond to the writing, either in written comments or in-person or both.
Anyway, I've been a school librarian for going-on 13 years now. As much as I love being in the library, I truly have missed our SSW time. I highly recommend teachers implement a regular SSW time for students. Mine loved it, and I bet some of them still have their old journals. I know I still have mine. :)
I also kept my own SSW notebook, and I wrote right along with my students. And when we shared what we wrote (always voluntarily), I sometimes shared my writing with them as well.
Anyway, when I read this book, told my students about Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey, and how the girl in the book started out keeping her journals private from the teacher. She tested her teacher to see if she was really reading them without her permission. Then at the end, she wanted the teacher to read them.
So I did the same in my class. I promised my students that if they wrote "Don't Read This" at the top of their journals, I would not read that selection. They could write this on every entry they wrote, and I honestly would not read any of it. Alternately, they could write "Please read this," and I would read it and respond to the writing, either in written comments or in-person or both.
Anyway, I've been a school librarian for going-on 13 years now. As much as I love being in the library, I truly have missed our SSW time. I highly recommend teachers implement a regular SSW time for students. Mine loved it, and I bet some of them still have their old journals. I know I still have mine. :)
September 27, 2011
Natalya picked Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey for her Banned Books Week read. (It is a small book so naturally I picked it up as well.) The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (abffe) hosts a page, “The Stories Behind Some Past Book Bans and Challenges,” upon which they share this about Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey:
"The Galt Joint Union Elementary School board in California decided to ban this novel that explores the life of a troubled teen after a parent complained of its risqué themes and language. It was removed from classrooms and can only be checked out of the library with parental permission."
Risqué. adjective.
slightly indecent or liable to shock, especially by being sexually suggestive.
(Oxford English Dictionary)
abffe provides this link to this kidSPEAK! article about the Galt ban. Much of the argument towards the banning of the novel is age-appropriateness : The Young Adult Novel was an assigned read in a 7th grade English class. ”Superintendent Jeffrey Jennings said he did not feel the book was appropriate for seventh-graders.”We should be able to have some discretion as to what our kids have to read,” he said.”
***********************
The format of the novel is an exciting one. I rarely care for the diary trope but Haddix is brilliant; naturally she is a marvelous choice for the classroom where such varied forms of creative writing are shared. The appeal, besides it being a short (manageable) read? Was it all those headings that read “don’t read this,” that insists that you must? Or is it that Tish is quite compelling. The developing characters finding depth and breadth in the course of the novel via an Haddix/Tish’s strength of voice. The setting is created with a deft hand, the entries not hinting at the least contrivance. I think much of the success is that Haddix doesn’t have Tish replicating long conversations or improbable scenery or waxing poetic. Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey holds a focus without overdoing it and without oversimplifying.
"November 18
"DON’T read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
"So you’d appreciate the chance to get to read one of my entries, Mrs. Dunphrey? Oh gerat, wonderful. I’m sure they’d make you very happy. Oh, isn’t this precious, you could say, how well Tish writes about her parents’ fights. “Tish,” you’d ask, “would you mind if The Lodestar reprinted that wonderful description of you and your brother cowering in his room while your father throws flowerpots at your mother? It’s so exquisitely done.
[...]
"Mrs. Dunphrey, I don’t really dislike you. I’ts just, your problem is that you’re too innocent. You’re even worse than Matt. You look out at us in the classroom and you think we’re all there ready and eager to learn about literature and grammar. I don’t know, maybe we would be, if we weren’t too busy thinking about our real lives. It’s not just me, either. I’m not the only one whose parents fight all the time. There are other kids who can’t think about Julius Caesar because they’re worrying about their parents being out of work. Or they’re afraid they’re pregnant. Or they’re on drugs." (45)
I adore the fact that Margaret Peterson Haddix’s novel told in entries by a girl who doesn’t want them read by her teacher is a book people do not want their children to read. The entries are dangerous, increasingly so. At first Tish is embarrassed by her situation. She feels isolated, passed over. She’s driven to write about it. But continuing to share begins to involve greater risks if Mrs. Dunphrey were to dare read the journal entries. What happens to Tish Bonner and her younger brother is indecent; it should be shocking. But not in the sense we should look away. Rather, Tish’s story is one we should be staring at straight in the face. “Is she risking everything that matters to her by putting the truth on paper? And is she risking more by keeping silent?” What is at risk by keeping silent? A question a concerned 7th grade teacher (among others) is bound to ask. A question 7th graders (among others) should be thinking about.
"January 27
"DON’T read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
"Yes, ma’am, I will try to begin writing so “wonderfully extensively” again. I’m so sorry I lost my journal-keeping commitment for a while there. I should have remembered that that was supposed to be the most important thing in my life.
"Do you know how dumb this is? What good is this journal, anyway? It’s not like I’m ever going to be a writer or anything. And it’s not like anybody would ever care about my life, that they’d ever read this (or that I’d ever let anyone read this.) If any adult really cared about me, my life would be totally different, let me tell you. That’s why I’m trying so hard to make things better for Matt. Not that I’m doing too great a job at it.
"But about school–it’s just silly, the stupid little assignments all you teachers make up. And then Mrs. Rachethead takes five points off anything if we forget to tear off the scraggly edges of our paper where ti comes out of wire notebooks. And Mr. Tremont won’t accept our homework unless we’ve got out name, the date, the class, and the page numbers, in that order, in the upper right-hand corner of every page. Do you all make up these rules just to amuse yourselves? Just to jerk our chains?" (67)
Tish is in her Sophmore year of High School and it doesn’t look like she will make to the next grade. She admits she doesn’t care about excelling in her classes, she just needs her diploma. She already knows she doesn’t have the financial capabilities to go to college. She knows a lot. She knows what many kids her age know. She knows what feels real to her right now, and remembers quite clearly what the past felt like, too.
Tish’s anger is apparent, but not all of it stems from ‘typical teen angst or attitude.’ And despite the questionable social circles, she is a good girl. And truly, not even her best friends come across as ‘no good’ as much as they seem confused, alone, and wanting of attention as well. She is not belligerent or anti-establishment without cause. There is a lot going on in her life, much of it outside her control–and it is hardly expressed in explicit terms, without explanation, or without consequence.
An uncomfortable and unpopular (among some) part of the story where Tish is asked out by her boss, the assistant manager at Burger Boy. She refuses and he cuts her hours, which is corrected by the Manager, but the enmity remains. One of her best friends thought she should have just gone out with him at least once, for the sake of a good schedule. While Tish, at times, questions her refusal, or its potential harshness, the novel supports her decision. Indeed, Tish, though still flawed, comes across as the wiser of the females in the story.
Another dilemma is the shoplifting. Her friend does it in, what Tish speculates, an attempt to get a parent’s attention. When Tish shoplifts, it is a desperate attempt at survival–and it still haunts. Corners are created and backed into, and Tish has choices; she also has strong emotions: Fear and Anger and Love being the most prevalent. She needs a guide, someone with a promising vision of her future, a sounding board, and this assigned journal.
Another difficulty, besides the abusive father (not to downplay this) is the mother–and the other adults. Images of neglectful abusive parents, the perception that all other adults are naive, dumb, or unavailable is hard. The mother has issues that effect the children and she essentially abandons them in various and progressive forms until she is physically miles away. Tish is stronger and older and cares for her brother Matt as best she can, but she is alone and ultimately unprepared and without enough means. She doesn’t trust anyone, afraid of what she and her peers believe to be true about the Adult world and their systems; and, again, not without reason. The coping skills her late Granma (maternal grandmother) had to offer diminishes under the strain of circumstance and self-realization. What is vital to know is that Tish’s situation and perceptions do not remain as they have begun or worsened. Mrs. Dunphrey does prove her wrong. She does prove to be caring and trustworthy. The teacher shows embarrassment over the misconception of her and does come through. And there are more parental figures, not perfect either, but suddenly available and capable. The future all along had yet to be properly forecasted.
It is a marvelous aspect that Haddix does not undermine the novel or her protagonist by redeeming any adult action; and that she can do it without perpetuating the idea that everyone in the world is cold and caught up in their own structures! Not all children are bad, even if they might physically appear so, nor are all grown-ups. Children are vulnerable, and they know it. But they are also powerful and they should know this too. And every child whether cute or barbed should have someone to love them, someone to trust. In Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey, it is abundantly clear that children need someone to acknowledge the harshness of their realities; namely, their teachers and schoolmates, the people with whom they spend the most time. Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey would tell children that there are teachers and administrators and peers who really do care. That they should dare those people to read their journals, to help them escape abusive situations, to advise them into making good choices.
And what does the decision by the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District board tells their children in the banning of this book from the classroom? Those with lives involving “risqué themes and language” should continue writing “don’t you dare read this” on the heading of all their papers. The censors evidently do not believe 7th graders can experience even an inkling of Tish’s or Matt’s indecent or shocking lives; evidently the classroom (and questionably the library) is not a venue for discussion, education, or compassion. Margaret Peterson Haddix’s novel Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey is not perpetuating the belief that Schools and their Adults don’t care about them, those like the censors found in Galt, California are. How age-inappropriate is that?!
********************
Note: The use of the word risqué may have been melodramatic. The “especially by being sexually suggestive,” nuance to the definition is underwhelming in the circumstance.
L @ omphaloskepsis
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/20...
"The Galt Joint Union Elementary School board in California decided to ban this novel that explores the life of a troubled teen after a parent complained of its risqué themes and language. It was removed from classrooms and can only be checked out of the library with parental permission."
Risqué. adjective.
slightly indecent or liable to shock, especially by being sexually suggestive.
(Oxford English Dictionary)
abffe provides this link to this kidSPEAK! article about the Galt ban. Much of the argument towards the banning of the novel is age-appropriateness : The Young Adult Novel was an assigned read in a 7th grade English class. ”Superintendent Jeffrey Jennings said he did not feel the book was appropriate for seventh-graders.”We should be able to have some discretion as to what our kids have to read,” he said.”
***********************
The format of the novel is an exciting one. I rarely care for the diary trope but Haddix is brilliant; naturally she is a marvelous choice for the classroom where such varied forms of creative writing are shared. The appeal, besides it being a short (manageable) read? Was it all those headings that read “don’t read this,” that insists that you must? Or is it that Tish is quite compelling. The developing characters finding depth and breadth in the course of the novel via an Haddix/Tish’s strength of voice. The setting is created with a deft hand, the entries not hinting at the least contrivance. I think much of the success is that Haddix doesn’t have Tish replicating long conversations or improbable scenery or waxing poetic. Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey holds a focus without overdoing it and without oversimplifying.
"November 18
"DON’T read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
"So you’d appreciate the chance to get to read one of my entries, Mrs. Dunphrey? Oh gerat, wonderful. I’m sure they’d make you very happy. Oh, isn’t this precious, you could say, how well Tish writes about her parents’ fights. “Tish,” you’d ask, “would you mind if The Lodestar reprinted that wonderful description of you and your brother cowering in his room while your father throws flowerpots at your mother? It’s so exquisitely done.
[...]
"Mrs. Dunphrey, I don’t really dislike you. I’ts just, your problem is that you’re too innocent. You’re even worse than Matt. You look out at us in the classroom and you think we’re all there ready and eager to learn about literature and grammar. I don’t know, maybe we would be, if we weren’t too busy thinking about our real lives. It’s not just me, either. I’m not the only one whose parents fight all the time. There are other kids who can’t think about Julius Caesar because they’re worrying about their parents being out of work. Or they’re afraid they’re pregnant. Or they’re on drugs." (45)
I adore the fact that Margaret Peterson Haddix’s novel told in entries by a girl who doesn’t want them read by her teacher is a book people do not want their children to read. The entries are dangerous, increasingly so. At first Tish is embarrassed by her situation. She feels isolated, passed over. She’s driven to write about it. But continuing to share begins to involve greater risks if Mrs. Dunphrey were to dare read the journal entries. What happens to Tish Bonner and her younger brother is indecent; it should be shocking. But not in the sense we should look away. Rather, Tish’s story is one we should be staring at straight in the face. “Is she risking everything that matters to her by putting the truth on paper? And is she risking more by keeping silent?” What is at risk by keeping silent? A question a concerned 7th grade teacher (among others) is bound to ask. A question 7th graders (among others) should be thinking about.
"January 27
"DON’T read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
"Yes, ma’am, I will try to begin writing so “wonderfully extensively” again. I’m so sorry I lost my journal-keeping commitment for a while there. I should have remembered that that was supposed to be the most important thing in my life.
"Do you know how dumb this is? What good is this journal, anyway? It’s not like I’m ever going to be a writer or anything. And it’s not like anybody would ever care about my life, that they’d ever read this (or that I’d ever let anyone read this.) If any adult really cared about me, my life would be totally different, let me tell you. That’s why I’m trying so hard to make things better for Matt. Not that I’m doing too great a job at it.
"But about school–it’s just silly, the stupid little assignments all you teachers make up. And then Mrs. Rachethead takes five points off anything if we forget to tear off the scraggly edges of our paper where ti comes out of wire notebooks. And Mr. Tremont won’t accept our homework unless we’ve got out name, the date, the class, and the page numbers, in that order, in the upper right-hand corner of every page. Do you all make up these rules just to amuse yourselves? Just to jerk our chains?" (67)
Tish is in her Sophmore year of High School and it doesn’t look like she will make to the next grade. She admits she doesn’t care about excelling in her classes, she just needs her diploma. She already knows she doesn’t have the financial capabilities to go to college. She knows a lot. She knows what many kids her age know. She knows what feels real to her right now, and remembers quite clearly what the past felt like, too.
Tish’s anger is apparent, but not all of it stems from ‘typical teen angst or attitude.’ And despite the questionable social circles, she is a good girl. And truly, not even her best friends come across as ‘no good’ as much as they seem confused, alone, and wanting of attention as well. She is not belligerent or anti-establishment without cause. There is a lot going on in her life, much of it outside her control–and it is hardly expressed in explicit terms, without explanation, or without consequence.
An uncomfortable and unpopular (among some) part of the story where Tish is asked out by her boss, the assistant manager at Burger Boy. She refuses and he cuts her hours, which is corrected by the Manager, but the enmity remains. One of her best friends thought she should have just gone out with him at least once, for the sake of a good schedule. While Tish, at times, questions her refusal, or its potential harshness, the novel supports her decision. Indeed, Tish, though still flawed, comes across as the wiser of the females in the story.
Another dilemma is the shoplifting. Her friend does it in, what Tish speculates, an attempt to get a parent’s attention. When Tish shoplifts, it is a desperate attempt at survival–and it still haunts. Corners are created and backed into, and Tish has choices; she also has strong emotions: Fear and Anger and Love being the most prevalent. She needs a guide, someone with a promising vision of her future, a sounding board, and this assigned journal.
Another difficulty, besides the abusive father (not to downplay this) is the mother–and the other adults. Images of neglectful abusive parents, the perception that all other adults are naive, dumb, or unavailable is hard. The mother has issues that effect the children and she essentially abandons them in various and progressive forms until she is physically miles away. Tish is stronger and older and cares for her brother Matt as best she can, but she is alone and ultimately unprepared and without enough means. She doesn’t trust anyone, afraid of what she and her peers believe to be true about the Adult world and their systems; and, again, not without reason. The coping skills her late Granma (maternal grandmother) had to offer diminishes under the strain of circumstance and self-realization. What is vital to know is that Tish’s situation and perceptions do not remain as they have begun or worsened. Mrs. Dunphrey does prove her wrong. She does prove to be caring and trustworthy. The teacher shows embarrassment over the misconception of her and does come through. And there are more parental figures, not perfect either, but suddenly available and capable. The future all along had yet to be properly forecasted.
It is a marvelous aspect that Haddix does not undermine the novel or her protagonist by redeeming any adult action; and that she can do it without perpetuating the idea that everyone in the world is cold and caught up in their own structures! Not all children are bad, even if they might physically appear so, nor are all grown-ups. Children are vulnerable, and they know it. But they are also powerful and they should know this too. And every child whether cute or barbed should have someone to love them, someone to trust. In Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey, it is abundantly clear that children need someone to acknowledge the harshness of their realities; namely, their teachers and schoolmates, the people with whom they spend the most time. Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey would tell children that there are teachers and administrators and peers who really do care. That they should dare those people to read their journals, to help them escape abusive situations, to advise them into making good choices.
And what does the decision by the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District board tells their children in the banning of this book from the classroom? Those with lives involving “risqué themes and language” should continue writing “don’t you dare read this” on the heading of all their papers. The censors evidently do not believe 7th graders can experience even an inkling of Tish’s or Matt’s indecent or shocking lives; evidently the classroom (and questionably the library) is not a venue for discussion, education, or compassion. Margaret Peterson Haddix’s novel Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey is not perpetuating the belief that Schools and their Adults don’t care about them, those like the censors found in Galt, California are. How age-inappropriate is that?!
********************
Note: The use of the word risqué may have been melodramatic. The “especially by being sexually suggestive,” nuance to the definition is underwhelming in the circumstance.
L @ omphaloskepsis
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/20...
March 1, 2015
Don't you dare read this, mrs. Dunphrey by: Margaret Peterson Haddix is a breath-taking, secretive, young adult novel that has some mystery involved and is written in a journal format. It would fit by other books such as Please write in this book by: Mary Amato and We were liars by: E. Lockhart. Don't you dare read this, mrs. Dunphrey is about a teenager, Tish Bonner who's English class has to each write in a journal for their homework but has the exception of writing do not read above a section and the teacher simply will not read it. Tish starts to write in the journal more and more often as her personal life at home gets more and more scary, writing do not read above almost all her sections.
This book only took me a couple days to read because it is short but also I HAD to find out what happened next. I simply couldn't stop. Tish would be at school and come home and all of a sudden her mother would be acting differently. I found a lot of character contradictions in this book from family members of Tish to even her friends. I really liked the way the author used her words to describe things in the book and made things sound so hard and also the journal format made Tish's thoughts sound real and scary. I would recommend this book to anyone who would want to read about someone who has to keep things to herself, they are so secret plus it is pretty short but still challenging enough.
This book only took me a couple days to read because it is short but also I HAD to find out what happened next. I simply couldn't stop. Tish would be at school and come home and all of a sudden her mother would be acting differently. I found a lot of character contradictions in this book from family members of Tish to even her friends. I really liked the way the author used her words to describe things in the book and made things sound so hard and also the journal format made Tish's thoughts sound real and scary. I would recommend this book to anyone who would want to read about someone who has to keep things to herself, they are so secret plus it is pretty short but still challenging enough.
April 29, 2021
When Tish’s English teacher Mrs. Dunphrey tells students she won’t read their journals the sixteen-year-old begins opening up about home difficulties. As things at home escalate, Mrs. Dunphrey might be the only one who can help.
From sexual harassment to domestic violence Tish is in way over her head, trying to protect her younger brother from life’s reality. She’s a sympathetic character who comes by her mistrust of adults through years of experience.
DON’T YOU DARE READ THIS, MRS. DUNPHREY was my first Margaret Peterson Haddix book. At only 136 pages, it can easily be read in one sitting. Appropriate for tweens and teens the message of talking to adults when problems are too overwhelming or dangerous is an important one.
ETA: Audiobook
From sexual harassment to domestic violence Tish is in way over her head, trying to protect her younger brother from life’s reality. She’s a sympathetic character who comes by her mistrust of adults through years of experience.
DON’T YOU DARE READ THIS, MRS. DUNPHREY was my first Margaret Peterson Haddix book. At only 136 pages, it can easily be read in one sitting. Appropriate for tweens and teens the message of talking to adults when problems are too overwhelming or dangerous is an important one.
ETA: Audiobook
June 3, 2008
I started reading Dont you dear about 2 weeks ago. It was a diary of a young teenage girl in high school. Tish is her name and she had an english teacher who wanted the whole class to write in a journal a few times a week and she promised she wouldnt read the entries if the students didnt want her to. Unfortunatly i think that her teacher should have been read the entries. Tish's home life wasnt all peaches and cream, her dad was always in and out of there lives and her mom is basically a dead beat. Tish is a sweet girl, she makes sure there is money coming into the house and food on the table everyday. I feel so bad for her because in high school you shouldnt be taking care of your 8 year old brother or sister because your mom cant get out of bed. I cant say i feel her pain because i have never beeing in that situation and i thank God that i havent. I have to finish the book because i need to see what is going to happen. I want to know if the dad is going to stay or if he will just skip town once again. I hope he just leaves, hes not a good part of there life thats for sure!
March 12, 2015
I thought this book was really good. It was about a girl 16 year olds named Tish and her little brother Matt. They live with their mother that has come to be a little on the crazy side. Not in a good way. At school she has to write five entries in a journal for her teacher about her life. Tish decided to write about well; everything. She writes but doesn't want her teacher to read the entry. She also has a dad that left Tish her mom, and her little brother for two years. He came back and tried to be nice to the family by giving them money and presents. Tish thinks it's too good to be true but her mother wants them to be nice to him so he will stay. Even after he used to hit them and yell, and leave for days, and then show up again and hope everything was ok. One day Tish yells at her father enough to make him leave them and not to come back. So the next week Tish comes home from her job to find their mother left, leaving her and her brother alone. Will Tish and Matt survive by themselves or will they be split into foster homes?
October 11, 2019
I really loved the story. Tish, being just 16 years old is quite smart and she tries her best to takes care of her 7 year old brother like she's his mother. I really liked the character and also Mrs Dunphrey who helped her in the best ways. This author makes the story feel so real. I read it in two days. I really love this book.
October 9, 2017
Holy shit! I forgot about this! I read this in middle school? Thanks Goodreads Blog for this blast from the past!
July 26, 2022
This... Is beautiful. Even made me drop a few tears at parts. I would love to read more of Haddix's older teen stories if she has it. No sci-fi. No giant plot. Just the psychology of a 16-year-old in journal form. And it was wonderful.
Well done. Would read again.
Well done. Would read again.
May 3, 2008
This story is written in journal format. The premise of the book is that a 16 year old girl has an assignment for her English class to keep a journal. The teacher has given the class the option to write entries that she promises not to read if the students write "do not read" next to them. The girl, Trish, does this and the journal becomes a way for her to vent the thoughts, emotions and struggles she is going through at home. As she proceeds to write it turns out that she is mostly taking care of her little brother (and later entirely doing so) and that her father is abusive and her mother is neglectful. A series of events occur until Trish reaches the point where she must ask for help. This is a great book because is gives perspective to why some kids at school may act tough. It illustrates a struggle for survival that most teens take for granted but for some is a reality. It is very realistic in the use of the teen voice. Trish is sarcastic and tough, but she has a good heart and tries very hard to do what is right and take care of herself and her little brother. I really liked this book a lot. This book is an ALA quick pick, it might be a good choice for reluctant teen readers because it is very short but also quite engrossing.
December 28, 2019
I was afraid as I neared the end that the journal would stop and I would never learn what happened... no spoilers :D
Those poor children, unfortunately I could relate.
Those poor children, unfortunately I could relate.
December 24, 2025
Now, I’ve read Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix more than once, and I took a fancy to it. Basically, the main character, Tish Bonner (who’s 15 at the start of the book and turns 16 later), is pretty neat.
Tish’s parents are shown to be messed up; her dad (Ray Bonner) is charming but abusive, while his wife, Tish’s mom (whose first name isn’t given), is shown as weak and unable to stand up for herself. Tish also has a younger brother named Matt, who is seven at the start of the book and turns eight later; despite her getting annoyed with Matt sometimes like most siblings do, she shows she’s usually fond of him most of the time.
Bud Turner, Tish’s boss at the Burger Boy, was quite well-developed in his own unique way. However, when I read the entry titled “April 7” and got to the part where he flat-out fired Tish, I felt a pang of sympathy for her; had he been thinking clearly, he would’ve accepted her decision to not go out with him back in the fall, and apologized to her, and then possibly given her either a promotion to co-manager, a raise on her salary, or both (as those two things are highly appreciated by those who work hard at their jobs).
Like Tish, I also liked the manager, Mr. Seagrave, as he sounded kind of cool too, and like Tish, I don’t know why he hired Bud as her boss either. I felt a slight pang of empathy for Tish when she found out Mr. Seagrave got a new job somewhere else (although it’s never fully explained what the new job is or where Mr. Seagrave went), and also felt slightly sickened, similar to Tish, when she discovered Bud had replaced him as manager.
Tish’s dad leaves after Christmas for California, and her mother leaves to go find him two months later, on February 12. Soon, all these bills come in (such as the electric and the heat bill, to name a few), and Tish also thinks she has to keep everything secret about her parents’ leaving.
I like these parts the best:
September 28
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
I am so pissed. The work schedule for the next two weeks was posted today, and guess who got her hours cut back to five a week? Uh-huh—me. And guess whose job it is to make up the work schedule? That’s right—Bud Turner’s.
I was so mad when I saw the schedule posted above our punch cards, I was shaking. The only thing that stopped me from storming into Bud’s office and calling him every name in the book—and then quitting—was that I’m saving up to buy Matt a Nintendo for his birthday next month. Maybe I should have cussed Bud out, anyhow—working five hours a week, I’ll never have enough for even the cheapest Nintendo. I called Rochelle and said, “How do you file a sexual harassment suit?” Then Mr Seagrave, the manager, came out of his office and said with so many customers waiting I wasn’t allowed to make a personal call.
Maybe I should have picked a better time, but I said I needed to talk to him urgently.
I’ve always liked Mr. Seagrave—I don’t know why he ever hired Bud—but he wasn’t very sympathetic. He gave me a whole song and dance about how everybody’s hours are being cut back a little, because business has been slower lately—“and if we don’t sell burgers, we don’t make enough money to pay our employees.” Yeah, right. In an hour, I make the equivalent of exactly one Big Burger Boy with a side order of fries (and that’s a small side order, too.) I pointed out that Charmaine was still getting eighteen hours a week, and so were four or five other people.
“If you don’t like the way things are run around here, you don’t have to work here,” Mr. Seagrave said.
That was really low. I was all ready to say, “Okay, I quit.” It would have been so much fun to just turn around, yank off my apron and leave. But then I thought, “Nintendo. Matt.” I straightened up, looked Mr. Seagrave right in the eye and said in my best sweet-talk voice, “I understand that, Mr. Seagrave. Would you mind speaking to Bud anyway?”
And then I did turn around and leave. I was very dignified. (p. 22-23)
October 1
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
Surprise, surprise. Bud posted a revised work schedule today and strangely enough, my hours were raised to fifteen a week. It’s not that great, but it’s still better than five. I felt like doing a victory dance, or something. But then Bud sent me out into the dining room to clean up a table where the whole football team from Gable had been eating—talk about a mess! They’d mixed gobs of ketchup and mustard and used it to fingerpaint on the chairs. And then they unscrewed the lids on the salt and pepper shakers and poured barbecue sauce in the shakers and on about fifty napkins . . . It took me an hour to clean up. Even so, I still felt good. (p. 23-24)
October 15
I wish so bad that Granma were still alive.
She would know what to do about Mom. Granma used to take care of all of us so well. I remember for a long time after we first moved in with Granma, I was scared of the dark. And Granma would come in every night and say, “What do you think is in the dark that’s so scary?” And I’d say goblins, or bogeymen, and she’d wave her arms and say, “They’re gone. All gone.” And the way she said it, I believed her. I’d smell her old-lady perfume—lavender or lilac, something like that—when she waved her arms, and it seemed like the scent would protect me from any bad thing. And after a while I ran out of bad things to be scared of. (p. 29-30)
December 10
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
Still haven’t seen Dad all week. Mom’s stayed in bed the last few days. She says she’s sick—says she got the flu everyone else had. But I don’t know. I hear her crying in there. It scares Matt.
Tony broke up with Sandy when he heard how she’d been all over Randy Seaver at the party Saturday night. And then Sandy called Randy Seaver and he was like “Who?” Like he’d never heard of her in his life. (Of course, Sandy didn’t admit that—Rochelle told me, because Rochelle was right there when Sandy called him.) Sandy went to the mall and shoplifted a necklace and a pair of $35 earrings, to make herself feel better. She was real obvious about it, too. It’s a wonder she didn’t get caught.
I knew real-life romances never worked out. (p. 55)
I went over to Dad and I actually kind of shoved his chest a little—I was kind of mad, and stupid—and I said, “We don’t need you. We were having a great Christmas Eve without you.” (That wasn’t really true. I’d tried to make Christmas cookies for Matt, but I didn’t put enough flour in, or something, and they were all too runny or burnt. And the presents I bought looked measly under that stupid silver tree we still have from when I was little. Mom didn’t get anybody anything, because she lost her Christmas money, and Matt just had some homemade stuff.) Then I said, “Who asked you to come here?”
Dad looked a little confused himself for a minute—he’s not used to being stood up to. Or maybe I just couldn't tell what he was thinking behind the Santa beard. Then he said, “For your information, your mother asked me to come here. And last time I checked, we are the parents and we make the decisions around here.”
“Funny thing,” I said. “There must not need to be any decisions made except once a month or so.”
And then he hit me, knocked me back into the tree. I landed on the box that had Mom’s robe in it, and smashed it. Matt screamed out, “Tish!” at the same time that Mom screamed out, “Ray!”
The tree fell over behind me and all the Christmas lights went out at once.
All I could think was, Matt’s not supposed to see this. He’s not supposed to think Santa Claus acts this way.
Mom started pleading with Dad—to ignore me, I think—and Dad started yelling back, and then they were outside, yelling so loud the neighbors had to have heard. I heard Dad say, “I know when I’m not wanted,” and then I heard his truck start. And then all we could hear was Mom crying.
And that’s been it, he hasn't been back at all. Mom told me yesterday at breakfast, “Well, you drove him off. He left town again.” I don’t know how she knows—from some of his buddies down at the Alibi Inn, I guess. But she hasn't said anything else to me, just looks at me real angry and tightlipped.
Matt looks at me kind of mad-like too, sometimes. He’s still confused. I’ve tried to talk to him, to tell him I didn’t mean to make Dad go away, to tell him I'd like it, too, if Dad were around all the time, being nice all the time, but that’s just not how things are. Matt nods his head and says, “Uh-huh,” when I ask him if he understands and “Huh-uh,” when I ask if he’s upset with me. I know he doesn’t understand, though. I know he spends almost as much time crying as Mom does.
If Granma were still alive, she would understand. She would tell me I did the right thing. I think. Or would she be mad at me, too?
It’s strange how it’s such a relief now to go to work at the Burger Boy. I don’t have to think at all there, just punch in the orders and wipe down the tables and pull the French fries and onion rings out of the fryer when the buzzer goes off. I went over Bud’s head and asked Mr. Seagrave to schedule me for as many hours as possible over break. Nobody else wants to work, so I’m getting almost thirty hours this week. (p. 60-62)
At least one of the bills, the one for Mom’s credit card, kind of solved a mystery. Guess what? All those big presents Dad got us—even that dinner at Shoney’s—he put on Mom’s credit card. I bet he’s the one who took Mom’s “missing” Christmas money, too. What a nice guy, huh?
There were lots of other things on the bill, too—lots of bar tabs at the Alibi Inn that I know were Dad’s, not Mom’s, because Mom can’t drink more than one beer without falling asleep. And it looks like the card was maxxed out the day after Christmas. So Dad just left when he couldn’t use Mom’s card anymore. It wasn’t my fault at all.
At least, that’s what I want to think. If it’s not my fault Dad left, it’s not my fault Mom left, either. (p. 88-89)
April 7
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
Oops—I didn’t mean to write five entries last time. At least Mrs. Dunphrey thinks I’m doing something right. Everything else is going wrong.
I got fired today.
The thing is, I didn’t even do anything. When I went in to work, Bud told me he wanted to see me back in his office. And when I got there, he shut the door and said, “Tish, we’re not going to need your help anymore.”
I was real stupid—I kept saying, “What? What do you mean?”
He said since he’d taken over he’d found that the restaurant was definitely overstaffed, and he needed to let a few people go to keep the overhead low.
Yeah, right. Then why was I the only person fired?
I asked if he wanted me to work my regular shift tonight—I thought maybe I could be real nice to him and talk him into letting me keep my job. But Bud just said, “That won't be necessary.”
And then he gave me my last paycheck and told me good-bye.
He looked so happy firing me, I wish I’d punched him. Right in his pimply nose. But Granma would have been proud of me—I was real dignified. I said, “Fine. It’s been a pleasure working with you.”
If he can lie, so can I. I know he was just getting back at me for not going out with him back in the fall.
I haven’t told anyone yet—I know Rochelle would tell me to file some sex discrimination suit or something. But I can’t have anyone nosing around. And wouldn’t I have to hire a lawyer for that?
Without my Burger Boy money, I can’t afford anything.
Tomorrow I’m going to go look for another job. Wendy’s has got to be hiring. Or McDonald’s. Somebody.
April 8
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
I was wrong. Nobody is hiring. At least not now. I went to every fast-food restaurant in town—and don't think that's easy, when you have to go by city bus. I filled out probably twenty applications. Daddy-O’s said they might be hiring in a month, and Hardee’s said they might have some openings in the summer. But that was it. Great. What am I supposed to do until then?
Tomorrow I’ll apply at other places. K-Mart. Wal-Mart. All the stores at the mall.
The thing is, who’s going to hire me anyhow when they find out I was fired from my last job? It’s not like Bud would give me a good recommendation.
Oh, one more thing—when I got home, the phone didn't work. I went next door and called the phone company, and the woman on the other end put me on hold forever and then came back on and said, “The reason your phone is out is that you’re behind in your payment. When you pay your bill in full, we’ll restore your service. There is a $50 hook-up fee.”
So even if those places want to hire me, they’re not going to be able to call.
What am I going to do? I’ve only got $20 left from my last Burger Boy check, that property tax thing is due, and we don’t have much food left.
I mean it. What am I going to do? (p. 104-106)
April 13
Don’t you dare read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
I’m not the least bit proud of this, but I shoplifted today for the first time in my life.
I went to Haggarty’s, where Mom used to work. (I figured they owed us.) I stuffed a package of hamburger in my jacket before buying a loaf of bread and two candy bars. All those times watching Sandy shoplift must have paid off, because I didn’t get caught. I was smart enough not to put the package in my jacket right in front of the meat case, because everyone knows the butchers look out through those windows. Nope, I put the hamburger in my cart, and went over to the canned vegetable aisle to cram the package into my top when no one was around.
Then, stupid me, I didn't pay attention to which check-out line I stood in, and ended up having Mom’s friend Brenda check me out. She wanted to talk and talk and talk—she asked how Mom’s new job was going and when Mom was going to actually call Brenda again. I had almost forgotten how Mom made up that story about getting a new job, so I almost gave everything away. And the whole time Brenda was asking me questions, the hamburger was slipping down inside my jacket. Finally I told her I had to go to work—hey, if you’re going to steal, you might as well lie, too.
Once I got out of the store, I couldn’t believe it, I felt free and trapped all at once. I whispered, “You’re a criminal now.” All I could think was, Granma would be so ashamed.
Then when I got home, and fixed the hamburger for Matt and me, I realized how dumb I was. If I was going to steal meat, why hadn’t I stolen something really good, like steak?
At least Matt got a lot to eat tonight—three hamburgers. And there was enough left over so we’ll have food for tomorrow night, too. (p. 106-107)
April 22
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
I can’t believe this happened—Sandy actually got caught shoplifting last night.
It was at this skaggy shop at the mall, Linda’s Place. Sandy tried to put an orange minidress in her purse, and she got sloppy. The clerk saw the edge of the dress hanging out.
Rochelle was with her, and the security guards made both of them call their parents. (Geez, what would I have done if I’d been with Sandy? Say, “Uh, I don’t know where my parents are, exactly”? That’d go over real well.)
Anyhow, the thing is, even though Sandy’s dad is Mr. Bigtime Lawyer, both Sandy and Rochelle have to go to court now. Chastity told me they might even go to jail, but Sandy said nobody goes to jail for a first offense. Not for shoplifting, anyway.
Sandy’s talking tough, but I think she’s really scared. And Rochelle’s totally freaked—she cried most of today. I don’t think she ever thought she could get in trouble just for being with Sandy when Sandy shoplifted. Who’d have known?
I got real panicked hearing about the whole thing. Chastity thought I was just upset for Sandy, and she kept saying things like, “Well, we both knew she was going to get caught someday. Maybe it's better this way, so she’ll stop doing it.” (Of course she didn’t say that while Sandy was around.) But Chastity only made me feel worse, because I was really thinking what if I had gotten caught shoplifting?
I’d been planning to go to Haggarty’s again tonight, and pick up something else. Now I’m too chicken.
Or, I don’t know, maybe I would have been too chicken anyhow. Ever since I took that hamburger last week, I’ve felt bad. Dirty, almost. I’m no saint, but I always thought at least I was a better person than Sandy. Now, the only difference is—she got caught and I didn’t.
Still. If I don’t shoplift again, what are Matt and I going to eat now? I only have five dollars left, and we’re both getting tired of peanut butter sandwiches.
I stopped in at all the places I’d applied for jobs, just in case someone had tried to call me. Nobody had. I just ended up wasting a lot of money on bus fare. (p. 110-111)
Finally, on April 30, Tish decides to tell her teacher, Mrs. Dunphrey, about her problems, and everything turns out OK for Tish and Matt in the end.
Anyway, I highly recommend this book, and I give it five stars (although ten stars would be even better). 😊
Tish’s parents are shown to be messed up; her dad (Ray Bonner) is charming but abusive, while his wife, Tish’s mom (whose first name isn’t given), is shown as weak and unable to stand up for herself. Tish also has a younger brother named Matt, who is seven at the start of the book and turns eight later; despite her getting annoyed with Matt sometimes like most siblings do, she shows she’s usually fond of him most of the time.
Bud Turner, Tish’s boss at the Burger Boy, was quite well-developed in his own unique way. However, when I read the entry titled “April 7” and got to the part where he flat-out fired Tish, I felt a pang of sympathy for her; had he been thinking clearly, he would’ve accepted her decision to not go out with him back in the fall, and apologized to her, and then possibly given her either a promotion to co-manager, a raise on her salary, or both (as those two things are highly appreciated by those who work hard at their jobs).
Like Tish, I also liked the manager, Mr. Seagrave, as he sounded kind of cool too, and like Tish, I don’t know why he hired Bud as her boss either. I felt a slight pang of empathy for Tish when she found out Mr. Seagrave got a new job somewhere else (although it’s never fully explained what the new job is or where Mr. Seagrave went), and also felt slightly sickened, similar to Tish, when she discovered Bud had replaced him as manager.
Tish’s dad leaves after Christmas for California, and her mother leaves to go find him two months later, on February 12. Soon, all these bills come in (such as the electric and the heat bill, to name a few), and Tish also thinks she has to keep everything secret about her parents’ leaving.
I like these parts the best:
September 28
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
I am so pissed. The work schedule for the next two weeks was posted today, and guess who got her hours cut back to five a week? Uh-huh—me. And guess whose job it is to make up the work schedule? That’s right—Bud Turner’s.
I was so mad when I saw the schedule posted above our punch cards, I was shaking. The only thing that stopped me from storming into Bud’s office and calling him every name in the book—and then quitting—was that I’m saving up to buy Matt a Nintendo for his birthday next month. Maybe I should have cussed Bud out, anyhow—working five hours a week, I’ll never have enough for even the cheapest Nintendo. I called Rochelle and said, “How do you file a sexual harassment suit?” Then Mr Seagrave, the manager, came out of his office and said with so many customers waiting I wasn’t allowed to make a personal call.
Maybe I should have picked a better time, but I said I needed to talk to him urgently.
I’ve always liked Mr. Seagrave—I don’t know why he ever hired Bud—but he wasn’t very sympathetic. He gave me a whole song and dance about how everybody’s hours are being cut back a little, because business has been slower lately—“and if we don’t sell burgers, we don’t make enough money to pay our employees.” Yeah, right. In an hour, I make the equivalent of exactly one Big Burger Boy with a side order of fries (and that’s a small side order, too.) I pointed out that Charmaine was still getting eighteen hours a week, and so were four or five other people.
“If you don’t like the way things are run around here, you don’t have to work here,” Mr. Seagrave said.
That was really low. I was all ready to say, “Okay, I quit.” It would have been so much fun to just turn around, yank off my apron and leave. But then I thought, “Nintendo. Matt.” I straightened up, looked Mr. Seagrave right in the eye and said in my best sweet-talk voice, “I understand that, Mr. Seagrave. Would you mind speaking to Bud anyway?”
And then I did turn around and leave. I was very dignified. (p. 22-23)
October 1
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
Surprise, surprise. Bud posted a revised work schedule today and strangely enough, my hours were raised to fifteen a week. It’s not that great, but it’s still better than five. I felt like doing a victory dance, or something. But then Bud sent me out into the dining room to clean up a table where the whole football team from Gable had been eating—talk about a mess! They’d mixed gobs of ketchup and mustard and used it to fingerpaint on the chairs. And then they unscrewed the lids on the salt and pepper shakers and poured barbecue sauce in the shakers and on about fifty napkins . . . It took me an hour to clean up. Even so, I still felt good. (p. 23-24)
October 15
I wish so bad that Granma were still alive.
She would know what to do about Mom. Granma used to take care of all of us so well. I remember for a long time after we first moved in with Granma, I was scared of the dark. And Granma would come in every night and say, “What do you think is in the dark that’s so scary?” And I’d say goblins, or bogeymen, and she’d wave her arms and say, “They’re gone. All gone.” And the way she said it, I believed her. I’d smell her old-lady perfume—lavender or lilac, something like that—when she waved her arms, and it seemed like the scent would protect me from any bad thing. And after a while I ran out of bad things to be scared of. (p. 29-30)
December 10
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
Still haven’t seen Dad all week. Mom’s stayed in bed the last few days. She says she’s sick—says she got the flu everyone else had. But I don’t know. I hear her crying in there. It scares Matt.
Tony broke up with Sandy when he heard how she’d been all over Randy Seaver at the party Saturday night. And then Sandy called Randy Seaver and he was like “Who?” Like he’d never heard of her in his life. (Of course, Sandy didn’t admit that—Rochelle told me, because Rochelle was right there when Sandy called him.) Sandy went to the mall and shoplifted a necklace and a pair of $35 earrings, to make herself feel better. She was real obvious about it, too. It’s a wonder she didn’t get caught.
I knew real-life romances never worked out. (p. 55)
I went over to Dad and I actually kind of shoved his chest a little—I was kind of mad, and stupid—and I said, “We don’t need you. We were having a great Christmas Eve without you.” (That wasn’t really true. I’d tried to make Christmas cookies for Matt, but I didn’t put enough flour in, or something, and they were all too runny or burnt. And the presents I bought looked measly under that stupid silver tree we still have from when I was little. Mom didn’t get anybody anything, because she lost her Christmas money, and Matt just had some homemade stuff.) Then I said, “Who asked you to come here?”
Dad looked a little confused himself for a minute—he’s not used to being stood up to. Or maybe I just couldn't tell what he was thinking behind the Santa beard. Then he said, “For your information, your mother asked me to come here. And last time I checked, we are the parents and we make the decisions around here.”
“Funny thing,” I said. “There must not need to be any decisions made except once a month or so.”
And then he hit me, knocked me back into the tree. I landed on the box that had Mom’s robe in it, and smashed it. Matt screamed out, “Tish!” at the same time that Mom screamed out, “Ray!”
The tree fell over behind me and all the Christmas lights went out at once.
All I could think was, Matt’s not supposed to see this. He’s not supposed to think Santa Claus acts this way.
Mom started pleading with Dad—to ignore me, I think—and Dad started yelling back, and then they were outside, yelling so loud the neighbors had to have heard. I heard Dad say, “I know when I’m not wanted,” and then I heard his truck start. And then all we could hear was Mom crying.
And that’s been it, he hasn't been back at all. Mom told me yesterday at breakfast, “Well, you drove him off. He left town again.” I don’t know how she knows—from some of his buddies down at the Alibi Inn, I guess. But she hasn't said anything else to me, just looks at me real angry and tightlipped.
Matt looks at me kind of mad-like too, sometimes. He’s still confused. I’ve tried to talk to him, to tell him I didn’t mean to make Dad go away, to tell him I'd like it, too, if Dad were around all the time, being nice all the time, but that’s just not how things are. Matt nods his head and says, “Uh-huh,” when I ask him if he understands and “Huh-uh,” when I ask if he’s upset with me. I know he doesn’t understand, though. I know he spends almost as much time crying as Mom does.
If Granma were still alive, she would understand. She would tell me I did the right thing. I think. Or would she be mad at me, too?
It’s strange how it’s such a relief now to go to work at the Burger Boy. I don’t have to think at all there, just punch in the orders and wipe down the tables and pull the French fries and onion rings out of the fryer when the buzzer goes off. I went over Bud’s head and asked Mr. Seagrave to schedule me for as many hours as possible over break. Nobody else wants to work, so I’m getting almost thirty hours this week. (p. 60-62)
At least one of the bills, the one for Mom’s credit card, kind of solved a mystery. Guess what? All those big presents Dad got us—even that dinner at Shoney’s—he put on Mom’s credit card. I bet he’s the one who took Mom’s “missing” Christmas money, too. What a nice guy, huh?
There were lots of other things on the bill, too—lots of bar tabs at the Alibi Inn that I know were Dad’s, not Mom’s, because Mom can’t drink more than one beer without falling asleep. And it looks like the card was maxxed out the day after Christmas. So Dad just left when he couldn’t use Mom’s card anymore. It wasn’t my fault at all.
At least, that’s what I want to think. If it’s not my fault Dad left, it’s not my fault Mom left, either. (p. 88-89)
April 7
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
Oops—I didn’t mean to write five entries last time. At least Mrs. Dunphrey thinks I’m doing something right. Everything else is going wrong.
I got fired today.
The thing is, I didn’t even do anything. When I went in to work, Bud told me he wanted to see me back in his office. And when I got there, he shut the door and said, “Tish, we’re not going to need your help anymore.”
I was real stupid—I kept saying, “What? What do you mean?”
He said since he’d taken over he’d found that the restaurant was definitely overstaffed, and he needed to let a few people go to keep the overhead low.
Yeah, right. Then why was I the only person fired?
I asked if he wanted me to work my regular shift tonight—I thought maybe I could be real nice to him and talk him into letting me keep my job. But Bud just said, “That won't be necessary.”
And then he gave me my last paycheck and told me good-bye.
He looked so happy firing me, I wish I’d punched him. Right in his pimply nose. But Granma would have been proud of me—I was real dignified. I said, “Fine. It’s been a pleasure working with you.”
If he can lie, so can I. I know he was just getting back at me for not going out with him back in the fall.
I haven’t told anyone yet—I know Rochelle would tell me to file some sex discrimination suit or something. But I can’t have anyone nosing around. And wouldn’t I have to hire a lawyer for that?
Without my Burger Boy money, I can’t afford anything.
Tomorrow I’m going to go look for another job. Wendy’s has got to be hiring. Or McDonald’s. Somebody.
April 8
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
I was wrong. Nobody is hiring. At least not now. I went to every fast-food restaurant in town—and don't think that's easy, when you have to go by city bus. I filled out probably twenty applications. Daddy-O’s said they might be hiring in a month, and Hardee’s said they might have some openings in the summer. But that was it. Great. What am I supposed to do until then?
Tomorrow I’ll apply at other places. K-Mart. Wal-Mart. All the stores at the mall.
The thing is, who’s going to hire me anyhow when they find out I was fired from my last job? It’s not like Bud would give me a good recommendation.
Oh, one more thing—when I got home, the phone didn't work. I went next door and called the phone company, and the woman on the other end put me on hold forever and then came back on and said, “The reason your phone is out is that you’re behind in your payment. When you pay your bill in full, we’ll restore your service. There is a $50 hook-up fee.”
So even if those places want to hire me, they’re not going to be able to call.
What am I going to do? I’ve only got $20 left from my last Burger Boy check, that property tax thing is due, and we don’t have much food left.
I mean it. What am I going to do? (p. 104-106)
April 13
Don’t you dare read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
I’m not the least bit proud of this, but I shoplifted today for the first time in my life.
I went to Haggarty’s, where Mom used to work. (I figured they owed us.) I stuffed a package of hamburger in my jacket before buying a loaf of bread and two candy bars. All those times watching Sandy shoplift must have paid off, because I didn’t get caught. I was smart enough not to put the package in my jacket right in front of the meat case, because everyone knows the butchers look out through those windows. Nope, I put the hamburger in my cart, and went over to the canned vegetable aisle to cram the package into my top when no one was around.
Then, stupid me, I didn't pay attention to which check-out line I stood in, and ended up having Mom’s friend Brenda check me out. She wanted to talk and talk and talk—she asked how Mom’s new job was going and when Mom was going to actually call Brenda again. I had almost forgotten how Mom made up that story about getting a new job, so I almost gave everything away. And the whole time Brenda was asking me questions, the hamburger was slipping down inside my jacket. Finally I told her I had to go to work—hey, if you’re going to steal, you might as well lie, too.
Once I got out of the store, I couldn’t believe it, I felt free and trapped all at once. I whispered, “You’re a criminal now.” All I could think was, Granma would be so ashamed.
Then when I got home, and fixed the hamburger for Matt and me, I realized how dumb I was. If I was going to steal meat, why hadn’t I stolen something really good, like steak?
At least Matt got a lot to eat tonight—three hamburgers. And there was enough left over so we’ll have food for tomorrow night, too. (p. 106-107)
April 22
Don’t read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.
I can’t believe this happened—Sandy actually got caught shoplifting last night.
It was at this skaggy shop at the mall, Linda’s Place. Sandy tried to put an orange minidress in her purse, and she got sloppy. The clerk saw the edge of the dress hanging out.
Rochelle was with her, and the security guards made both of them call their parents. (Geez, what would I have done if I’d been with Sandy? Say, “Uh, I don’t know where my parents are, exactly”? That’d go over real well.)
Anyhow, the thing is, even though Sandy’s dad is Mr. Bigtime Lawyer, both Sandy and Rochelle have to go to court now. Chastity told me they might even go to jail, but Sandy said nobody goes to jail for a first offense. Not for shoplifting, anyway.
Sandy’s talking tough, but I think she’s really scared. And Rochelle’s totally freaked—she cried most of today. I don’t think she ever thought she could get in trouble just for being with Sandy when Sandy shoplifted. Who’d have known?
I got real panicked hearing about the whole thing. Chastity thought I was just upset for Sandy, and she kept saying things like, “Well, we both knew she was going to get caught someday. Maybe it's better this way, so she’ll stop doing it.” (Of course she didn’t say that while Sandy was around.) But Chastity only made me feel worse, because I was really thinking what if I had gotten caught shoplifting?
I’d been planning to go to Haggarty’s again tonight, and pick up something else. Now I’m too chicken.
Or, I don’t know, maybe I would have been too chicken anyhow. Ever since I took that hamburger last week, I’ve felt bad. Dirty, almost. I’m no saint, but I always thought at least I was a better person than Sandy. Now, the only difference is—she got caught and I didn’t.
Still. If I don’t shoplift again, what are Matt and I going to eat now? I only have five dollars left, and we’re both getting tired of peanut butter sandwiches.
I stopped in at all the places I’d applied for jobs, just in case someone had tried to call me. Nobody had. I just ended up wasting a lot of money on bus fare. (p. 110-111)
Finally, on April 30, Tish decides to tell her teacher, Mrs. Dunphrey, about her problems, and everything turns out OK for Tish and Matt in the end.
Anyway, I highly recommend this book, and I give it five stars (although ten stars would be even better). 😊
July 13, 2016
This was a good short read.
The story is about Tish, a 16 year old girl whose school assignment for the year is to write in her journal notebook. Her teacher, Mrs.Dunphrey, said that if her students wrote "Don't Read" on their entries, then she wouldn't read it. Of course Tish doesn't believe her teacher so she does a test to see if her teacher will keep her word. When Tish discovers that her teacher doesn't read any entry marked "Don't Read", she begins to write down her feelings and situation at home. She labels almost all her entries as "Don't Read" so she can write without fear of anyone reading her secrets.
Tish is not an immediately likeable character. She makes fun of the assignment of writing in her journal and says some mean things about her teacher, mom, and brother. However after reading about her home life, you can see why Tish is hard. She doesn't trust adults and has a hard exterior. Her father left her mother, her mother is basically a waste of space and Tish has to work and take care of her brother (who is 8). Tish's mom is depressed and while she does neglect her kids, she does work and makes enough money to keep the family afloat. Tish also works part time at a fast food burger place so she can have her own money. Tish's father is abusive to her mother and her.
When writing Tish write about things that are happening in the present and memories that she has of the past. In her memories, its clear that her home life and parents were never stable. In her present her abusive father comes back after being gone for 2 years and from there everything goes to hell. Tish doesn't think much of her mother~ she thinks she's a wimp~ and she hates her father. Tish cares for her brother but also loses patience with him sometimes. Then something happens that makes Tish's world collapse and she is at a loss of what to do.
This book deals with some powerful issues some teens may face and this book could be a good read for them so that they can see that they are not alone and that it is ok to ask for help. I highly recommend it.
This review is also posted on The Book Owl Extraordinaire
The story is about Tish, a 16 year old girl whose school assignment for the year is to write in her journal notebook. Her teacher, Mrs.Dunphrey, said that if her students wrote "Don't Read" on their entries, then she wouldn't read it. Of course Tish doesn't believe her teacher so she does a test to see if her teacher will keep her word. When Tish discovers that her teacher doesn't read any entry marked "Don't Read", she begins to write down her feelings and situation at home. She labels almost all her entries as "Don't Read" so she can write without fear of anyone reading her secrets.
Tish is not an immediately likeable character. She makes fun of the assignment of writing in her journal and says some mean things about her teacher, mom, and brother. However after reading about her home life, you can see why Tish is hard. She doesn't trust adults and has a hard exterior. Her father left her mother, her mother is basically a waste of space and Tish has to work and take care of her brother (who is 8). Tish's mom is depressed and while she does neglect her kids, she does work and makes enough money to keep the family afloat. Tish also works part time at a fast food burger place so she can have her own money. Tish's father is abusive to her mother and her.
When writing Tish write about things that are happening in the present and memories that she has of the past. In her memories, its clear that her home life and parents were never stable. In her present her abusive father comes back after being gone for 2 years and from there everything goes to hell. Tish doesn't think much of her mother~ she thinks she's a wimp~ and she hates her father. Tish cares for her brother but also loses patience with him sometimes. Then something happens that makes Tish's world collapse and she is at a loss of what to do.
This book deals with some powerful issues some teens may face and this book could be a good read for them so that they can see that they are not alone and that it is ok to ask for help. I highly recommend it.
This review is also posted on The Book Owl Extraordinaire
May 15, 2017
I enjoyed reading this book. It's very secretive and as you read it, it gets more intense. This book is about a high school student named Tish Bonner. She is given the assignment to write in her journal throughout the school year by her language arts teacher, Mrs. Dunphrey. As Tish gets comfortable writing in her journal, she starts to write her personal problems about her little brother Matt, her mom, and her dad who is abusive and marks it "Do NOT read, Mrs Dunphrey". I thought this was a really good book because it got my attention as I was reading. I would want to recommend this book to my friends.
May 24, 2007
In the journal she is keeping for English class, sixteen-year-old Tish chronicles the changes in her life when her abusive father abandons her and her brother, and her mother follows him.
I love writing journal myself, and I don't want anybody to read it. But, this story makes me wonder, should we follow the rules of NOT reading other's journal? Especially when we know that someone is in trouble? Still wondering...
I love writing journal myself, and I don't want anybody to read it. But, this story makes me wonder, should we follow the rules of NOT reading other's journal? Especially when we know that someone is in trouble? Still wondering...
September 20, 2017
Everyone has to keep a journal in Mrs. Dunphrey's English, but the teacher has promised she won't read any entry marked "Do not read this". Tish Bonner is not known for doing homework or trying hard in her classes. She tried hard on a test once which showed she was intelligent but it seemed to cause Tish more problems than it was worth. She reveals that her father left two years ago and her mother is not much of a mother. Her father comes back for a short period of time but leaves again, comes back but leaves after Tish yells at him. Her mother is worse than before and then finally leaves to find her father. Tish is left to care for herself and her little 9-year-old brother. she is left with only her part-time job for money to pay for food and the bills. After she is fired from her job (most likely because she wouldn't go on a date with her boss) isn't able to pay the bills or for food and the electricity is turned off she decides she needs help. she finally lets Mrs. Dunphrey read her journal and asks for help. Mrs. Dunphrey is very helpful. They move to Florida to live with her grandparents. Her mother also comes to live there. Tish writes Mrs. Dunphrey to say thank you everything she did for her and her brother. Made me cry at the end.
2017 Reading Challenge:
#27 A Book with a title that's a character's name
2017 Reading Challenge:
#27 A Book with a title that's a character's name
May 31, 2019
I think that this book was very good at discussing issues that can go along in young children's lives such as abuse, child neglect, and isolationism. It really showed me what can actually occur in young children's lives who are less fortunate and don't have supportive parents to be there for them. I got a first hand account of what many children have to go through when not being cared for and have to take the responsibility themselves. I didn't like how it was a diary and how she had constant journal entries that always said don't read this Mrs. Dunphrey but I guess that is the title of the book.
November 24, 2022
My adult self gives this 3 solid, good stars. But my 12-year-old self would've given it 5 stars. Oh, how I wish I could've read this at a time in my life when I really needed it. My parents weren't normal, but all I knew was what I grew up with,...and it was a lonely, isolated feeling when I had constant family drama to survive. I wish there had been books back then to let me know I wasn't alone, I wasn't the only one.
Young people need books like this to understand not everyone's lives are the same, and we are never alone in our difficulties.
Young people need books like this to understand not everyone's lives are the same, and we are never alone in our difficulties.
June 24, 2019
In this book Tish is in a class and she needs to write journal entries everyday but she doesn’t want her teacher reading them so she labels the “don’t read this mrs. Duhphrey”. I think that the main theme of this book is responsibility. Throughout the book Tish is going through at home struggles. She needs to take care of her brother and her self and try to make the best out of what she has.
Read
July 18, 2022pulled this out of a little free library because I thought I remembered this from my childhood but sadly this is not the one about the girl who was a Soviet spy or the one about the girl in witness protection OR the one about the girl who joins a cult
December 10, 2022
Really intense and edge-of-your-seat kind of storytelling as Tish’s life spins out of control and she refuses to tell anyone but her journal. I enjoyed the format since I love reading different narrating styles. Couldn’t put it down!!
June 22, 2019
Another good book by Haddix-a great middle school author.
October 10, 2023
Kinda sad book but it's okay
April 10, 2024
I feel like I’ve read this story SO MANY TIMES just with different characters in almost every book in some form or another… But I really liked the way this book was written/formatted!
March 10, 2025
i can't believe my mom thought it was fine for me to read this when I was 8 LMAO
March 15, 2017
I enjoyed reading this book! This book is about a girl named Trish and she does what's right for her and her little brother. Her English teacher assigned her students to write a journal and promised that she wouldn't read the ones that has a marked "DO NOT READ THIS". Trish wrote a journal about her life. Her dad was abusive towards his children. And her mom does not care her children. The time came when Trish needed to talk to someone that can help her. This book will get interesting as you read more. I would recommend this book to middle schoolers because some middle schoolers could relate to this story.
February 7, 2019
I read a couple of Haddix’s books in middle school and thoroughly enjoyed them. But I have to say, this is the type of YA book that may be more powerful to read as an adult. The way the book was framed, I couldn’t help picturing myself in Mrs. Dunphrey's shoes, receiving Tish’s journal and feeling torn between respecting her privacy and trying to help in some way. Just knowing that my teacher friends have students coming to school with these kinds of burdens… Anyway, there aren’t a lot of surprises in this story, but I enjoyed the narrative framework, and Tish’s relationship with her brother is precious. I just wanted to protect them both.
August 2, 2018
Another compelling Haddix book, but unique in it's format and voice. I really enjoyed this one.
January 13, 2010
I was sitting around tonight, putting off doing anything productive, when I picked up this book up off my shelf and started reading bits of it. I first read it in seventh grade, and I really enjoyed it at the time.
Haddix deals with difficult subject matter in this book, more explicitly a girl abusive and neglectful parents struggling to keep her and her brother afloat. The subject matter isn't something which I can relate to, but it does make me feel very fortunate. It's definitely thought-provoking, however, because even though I've grown up in white-upper-middle-class areas, I realize that there are adults and children who struggle with money more than I do. Also, the ending and what Tish's family goes through makes me think of how I would deal with that situation. I think Haddix is not only trying to write a realistic character here, but also to shed light on what it's like to be in Tish's situation.
This book is short and very readable. Since it's written as the diary of a 15-year-old girl, the writing isn't amazing, but it's not really meant to be. I think I found Tish's voice a little bit more relatable when I was a younger reader. However, I could still relate to her struggles with friends and boys and whatnot, since I definitely went through that at her age. The passages where Haddix dealt with Tish's relationship with her brother were also quite good. I don't have a younger brother, but the emotions felt real to me. Also, I don't know if this is because of the time when it was written, but I'm not sure of how many of Haddix's readers can relate to the idea of seeing girls make their hair really poofy (at one point Haddix mentions their stereotyped as sluts, and every school has a girl who gets called that name). It seems to me like an eighties thing, but maybe it's a geographical thing. I don't really know, it's honestly a small and minor complaint, I guess when I was in high school there were other stereotypes associated with the world slut.
Overall, I think this is an enjoyable read for young adults. It is a bit short and I do think some aspects of Haddix's story may not perfectly mesh with today's readers. However, I think Haddix writes about a tough subject but still creates a character which her readers can relate to, and I'd say that's a pretty big accomplishment and makes for an enjoyable read.
Haddix deals with difficult subject matter in this book, more explicitly a girl abusive and neglectful parents struggling to keep her and her brother afloat. The subject matter isn't something which I can relate to, but it does make me feel very fortunate. It's definitely thought-provoking, however, because even though I've grown up in white-upper-middle-class areas, I realize that there are adults and children who struggle with money more than I do. Also, the ending and what Tish's family goes through makes me think of how I would deal with that situation. I think Haddix is not only trying to write a realistic character here, but also to shed light on what it's like to be in Tish's situation.
This book is short and very readable. Since it's written as the diary of a 15-year-old girl, the writing isn't amazing, but it's not really meant to be. I think I found Tish's voice a little bit more relatable when I was a younger reader. However, I could still relate to her struggles with friends and boys and whatnot, since I definitely went through that at her age. The passages where Haddix dealt with Tish's relationship with her brother were also quite good. I don't have a younger brother, but the emotions felt real to me. Also, I don't know if this is because of the time when it was written, but I'm not sure of how many of Haddix's readers can relate to the idea of seeing girls make their hair really poofy (at one point Haddix mentions their stereotyped as sluts, and every school has a girl who gets called that name). It seems to me like an eighties thing, but maybe it's a geographical thing. I don't really know, it's honestly a small and minor complaint, I guess when I was in high school there were other stereotypes associated with the world slut.
Overall, I think this is an enjoyable read for young adults. It is a bit short and I do think some aspects of Haddix's story may not perfectly mesh with today's readers. However, I think Haddix writes about a tough subject but still creates a character which her readers can relate to, and I'd say that's a pretty big accomplishment and makes for an enjoyable read.
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