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So Much to Tell You #2
Take My Word For It
Marina had So Much to Tell You. Now it's Lisa's turn.
While writing in a journal for class, Lisa gradually reveals her own personal feelings and concerns, while describing relationships with and problems of other girls at her boarding school.
While writing in a journal for class, Lisa gradually reveals her own personal feelings and concerns, while describing relationships with and problems of other girls at her boarding school.
113 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
17 people are currently reading
706 people want to read
About the author
John Marsden
90 books1,955 followersThere is more than one author with this name in the database, see f.e. John Marsden.
John Marsden was an Australian writer and school principal. He wrote more than 40 books in his career and his books have been translated into many languages. He was especially known for his young adult novel Tomorrow, When the War Began, which began a series of seven books.
Marsden began writing for children while working as a teacher, and had his first book, So Much to Tell You, published in 1987. In 2006, he started an alternative school, Candlebark School, and reduced his writing to focus on teaching and running the school. In 2016, he opened the arts-focused secondary school, Alice Miller School. Both schools are in the Macedon Ranges.
John Marsden was an Australian writer and school principal. He wrote more than 40 books in his career and his books have been translated into many languages. He was especially known for his young adult novel Tomorrow, When the War Began, which began a series of seven books.
Marsden began writing for children while working as a teacher, and had his first book, So Much to Tell You, published in 1987. In 2006, he started an alternative school, Candlebark School, and reduced his writing to focus on teaching and running the school. In 2016, he opened the arts-focused secondary school, Alice Miller School. Both schools are in the Macedon Ranges.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 17, 2025
Lisa is the hard one. At least that’s what her friends/dorm mates believe. She doesn’t dig deep or spill the important stuff. The intimate details.
She isn’t silent like Marina—the girl with the scars who lingers on the fringes, without ever really joining in.
No, Lisa is a leader. She’s a competitive rower. She organizes the debate team. She pulls the girls together for basketball. But she’s hiding something, even from herself.
A quick glimpse into the heart and mind of a narrator who isn’t at all sure she trusts anyone to read her journal, Take My Word For It is a companion novel to John Marsden’s So Much to Tell You. It’s been a LONG time since I read So Much to Tell You, the first of many phenomenal reads of books by this author. I only discovered the existence of this book about a year ago. The author always surprises me with his contemporary plotlines, and Take My Word For It is no exception.
She isn’t silent like Marina—the girl with the scars who lingers on the fringes, without ever really joining in.
No, Lisa is a leader. She’s a competitive rower. She organizes the debate team. She pulls the girls together for basketball. But she’s hiding something, even from herself.
A quick glimpse into the heart and mind of a narrator who isn’t at all sure she trusts anyone to read her journal, Take My Word For It is a companion novel to John Marsden’s So Much to Tell You. It’s been a LONG time since I read So Much to Tell You, the first of many phenomenal reads of books by this author. I only discovered the existence of this book about a year ago. The author always surprises me with his contemporary plotlines, and Take My Word For It is no exception.
February 13, 2025
John Marsden will always be the pinnacle of Australian teen fiction in my mind (the wait list for the next instalment of the Tomorrow series at the school library comes to mind). With his recent passing, I decided to revisit his writing with this story told from Lisa's perspective. To be fair, I didn't really remember Lisa's side of the story anywhere near as much as Marina's so couldn't have told you what it was about before this re-read. Having said that, I really appreciated Marsden's ability to write not just about the dramatic life altering events but also the mundane events that consume the teenaged brain in day to day life.
All in all, still not my top Marsden novel but certainly a good read.
All in all, still not my top Marsden novel but certainly a good read.
January 12, 2009
Honestly, this book disappointed me. It wasn't bad but the author failed to convince me that the protagonist would behave in the way she did in this book when faced with the particular circumstances she faces here. Also some things we find out about Lisa here don't seeem to fit too well with the impression I got of her in So Much to Tell You. I like the way that Marsden shows how people view things differently and sometimes incorrectly, but some of it seems a little too jarring.
It's a good book, but compared with others I read by John Marsden, I don't think it is up to the same standard.
It's a good book, but compared with others I read by John Marsden, I don't think it is up to the same standard.
July 18, 2025
This was sure okay. Not bad, not good, just there being an unnecessary sequel. Was the plan for every girl in the dorm to have a book?
Remember Lisa? I kinda didn't, even though I only read So Much to Tell You a month ago. She's the one who Marina sees up a tree while Marina is also attempting to hide in the tree. Lisa is a good kid. She's angsty, she's sporty, she's a leader but still insecure.
This book starts at the same time SMtTY does, but goes on a little further, after Marina stays with Cathy and sees her dad. Lisa is another farm kid, and there's shadows of Ellie Linton, but her parents divorced and sold the farm the day after she started at boarding school last year, so she's been grieving the farm and also realizing that her dad is unreliable and useless. There's a lot of rowing, if you're into rowing, a lot of comments about everyone in school, complaining about being bored during the holidays. Lisa has a secret, but it's not as good as Marina's. It's a very, very real book in the way that reading a teen girl's actual diary would be real and also not a great novel. But it's definitely okay. It mostly held my interest, and in the end we get a little bit of Marina, talking, and it's nice.
Remember Lisa? I kinda didn't, even though I only read So Much to Tell You a month ago. She's the one who Marina sees up a tree while Marina is also attempting to hide in the tree. Lisa is a good kid. She's angsty, she's sporty, she's a leader but still insecure.
This book starts at the same time SMtTY does, but goes on a little further, after Marina stays with Cathy and sees her dad. Lisa is another farm kid, and there's shadows of Ellie Linton, but her parents divorced and sold the farm the day after she started at boarding school last year, so she's been grieving the farm and also realizing that her dad is unreliable and useless. There's a lot of rowing, if you're into rowing, a lot of comments about everyone in school, complaining about being bored during the holidays. Lisa has a secret, but it's not as good as Marina's. It's a very, very real book in the way that reading a teen girl's actual diary would be real and also not a great novel. But it's definitely okay. It mostly held my interest, and in the end we get a little bit of Marina, talking, and it's nice.
November 27, 2011
Re-read November 24-25, 2011, while in Den Haag. I kind of had to go and re-read it since I'd just rediscovered the amazingness of So Much to Tell You! (And this was the one with the head of the schoolgirls rowing regatta mentioned. And MLC as well.) Overall though, while Lisa's story certainly is interesting, it's not as engaging and perfect as Marina's. I like seeing the "other" side of So Much To Tell You, but in a way I prefer to only see Lisa from the outside, rather than having all of her mystery taken away. It's nice to know, but you don't really NEED to... if that makes sense. I guess we also don't find out as much as we could have found out. The book needed to be longer and a bit more in-depth I think.
May 29, 2015
I thought this was a really good book. Another great one from John Marsden. For anyone who doesn't already know it's basically the diary of a girl (Lisa) in her early teens and I found this really intriguing and thought that it captured what it's like to be a teen in certain circumstances really well.
July 4, 2020
4.5/5
is baffaling how much i liked this book, but it felt so real that for a moment i thought lisa was real. that girl is so smart and strong i really hope everything turns out in the end, and she can sit on a hill with marina just chilling. i wish the best to those two.
is baffaling how much i liked this book, but it felt so real that for a moment i thought lisa was real. that girl is so smart and strong i really hope everything turns out in the end, and she can sit on a hill with marina just chilling. i wish the best to those two.
June 10, 2011
This book is Awsome!!
March 18, 2013
Probably more 3.5 stars. Interested read, but a tad predictable.
August 4, 2013
ok but not as good as 'so much to tell you'. it's missing that unique view of marina's..
December 9, 2025
Considering who the author is, I was kinda shocked when I actually started relating to Lisa. I didn't really have any strong feelings on her at the beginning, but I definitely loved her towards the end.
November 11, 2017
Not quite the bite of the first book, nevertheless Marsden is the greatest!
June 4, 2019
I had it wrong!! Thought she was going to be bulimic or anorexic. Good read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2019
I really liked it and recommend it for writers at all levels.
Currently reading
February 6, 2023Didn't realise this was a sequel when I got it out at the library. I will have to find no. 1 and read it first.
February 6, 2017
My rating for Take My Word for It is 3.5 out of 5 stars.
This is companion novel to So Much to Tell You by John Marsden but this time we are reading Lisa's Journal. There were somethings that I was wanting from this book, some scenes that I read from Marina's perspective that I wanted to read from Lisa's view which that didn't happen. However, this does continue on a little after Marina's journal did, which was something that I wanted to see.
This book is only 113 pages, and yet still at times it felt like it dragged a bit. I also don't think I cared as much about Lisa as I did as Marina, at least until the end of the book.
This book did explore the effects that a divorce can have on the children involved, particularly if the parents do not communicate well with their children and don't check that their well being. I think that it did this well, but there was also this sort of mystery hanging over the story that wasn't revealed until the last couple of pages and I didn't think that it was needed. I would have liked to see that issue dealt with a little more fully than it was.
My thoughts are a little all over the place, and I am sorry for the choppy review, but I did really enjoy this book and I loved learning more about Lisa. I am glad that I decided to finally finish off this duology.
This is companion novel to So Much to Tell You by John Marsden but this time we are reading Lisa's Journal. There were somethings that I was wanting from this book, some scenes that I read from Marina's perspective that I wanted to read from Lisa's view which that didn't happen. However, this does continue on a little after Marina's journal did, which was something that I wanted to see.
This book is only 113 pages, and yet still at times it felt like it dragged a bit. I also don't think I cared as much about Lisa as I did as Marina, at least until the end of the book.
This book did explore the effects that a divorce can have on the children involved, particularly if the parents do not communicate well with their children and don't check that their well being. I think that it did this well, but there was also this sort of mystery hanging over the story that wasn't revealed until the last couple of pages and I didn't think that it was needed. I would have liked to see that issue dealt with a little more fully than it was.
My thoughts are a little all over the place, and I am sorry for the choppy review, but I did really enjoy this book and I loved learning more about Lisa. I am glad that I decided to finally finish off this duology.
August 31, 2016
I always loved So Much to Tell You when I was younger, and liked this book quite a bit. It always contains my favourite quote in Young Adult fiction 'she would give you her shirt off her back, and her bra off her front'.
I didn't find Lisa's story to be overly captivating, couldn't care less about the family plot etc, but I was really interested in her responses to Marina. There was a lot about Kate at the end of the book, and it makes me wonder if Marsden has planned to continue the stories about the girls in Dorm B. Maybe, or maybe his Tomorrow books were such a hit he never went back to this story.
As a tween I was fascinated by boarding school life (didn't want to go there, but always tried writing my own novels about boarding school life based on the So Much to Tell You books). As a teacher now it is really interesting reading how teachers are perceived and what teenagers think of their assignments! The book has aged well, perhaps with the exception of the telephone business.
I didn't find Lisa's story to be overly captivating, couldn't care less about the family plot etc, but I was really interested in her responses to Marina. There was a lot about Kate at the end of the book, and it makes me wonder if Marsden has planned to continue the stories about the girls in Dorm B. Maybe, or maybe his Tomorrow books were such a hit he never went back to this story.
As a tween I was fascinated by boarding school life (didn't want to go there, but always tried writing my own novels about boarding school life based on the So Much to Tell You books). As a teacher now it is really interesting reading how teachers are perceived and what teenagers think of their assignments! The book has aged well, perhaps with the exception of the telephone business.
December 20, 2025
"I don't think I'm going to be the kind of adult I dreamed of being when I was a kid."
Argh, the wretched poignancy! Not as good as So Much to Tell You but hits the teenage issues hard in a way that is as fresh and angsty as when it was first published in 1992. I like how you get to see a continuation of Marina's story as well as Lisa's perspective on her.
Argh, the wretched poignancy! Not as good as So Much to Tell You but hits the teenage issues hard in a way that is as fresh and angsty as when it was first published in 1992. I like how you get to see a continuation of Marina's story as well as Lisa's perspective on her.
September 23, 2019
This book made me think about what it would be like to board at a school away from home when she was talking about what it's like to have room mates.
The writer is teaching us about what it's like to have you parent split up and then send you away because she was sent to a boarding school.
In my opinion, is that she happy at the school because she is away from the chaos at home.
The writer is teaching us about what it's like to have you parent split up and then send you away because she was sent to a boarding school.
In my opinion, is that she happy at the school because she is away from the chaos at home.
January 25, 2017
I read So much to tell you when I was younger and it was so interesting to read the same year but from Lisas viewpoint.
September 24, 2022
Exceptional writer. Love all of his books!
April 20, 2017
AAAAH, FINALLY! I have been trying to get hold of this book for years!
This is nowhere near as good as So Much to Tell You, but I didn't really expect it to be. So Much to Tell You is one of my favourite books, so there was no way this one could really have lived up to it. I found Lisa less interesting than Marina, but it was nice to see an outside perspective of Marina and see some of the gaps filled in. Also, I liked that this diary went on a little longer than So Much to Tell You so we got to see a little of what happened next
This is nowhere near as good as So Much to Tell You, but I didn't really expect it to be. So Much to Tell You is one of my favourite books, so there was no way this one could really have lived up to it. I found Lisa less interesting than Marina, but it was nice to see an outside perspective of Marina and see some of the gaps filled in. Also, I liked that this diary went on a little longer than So Much to Tell You so we got to see a little of what happened next
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews