When Adrian Mole decided to start a diary at the ripe old age of thirteen and three-quarters, he had no idea how far his words would reach. He was just a kid growing up in Leicester, England, with acne and a crush and a bully and a crazy home life. In other words, he’s a teenager living in the provinces (the equivalent of the suburbs in America).

Adrian reads lots of books but he doesn’t always do well in school. He’s a little jealous of his best friend Nigel, because of all of expensive stereo equipment and his brand new racing bike. He has a crush on Pandora Braithwaite, with her treacle colored hair and her pony. And to get out of math class, he agrees to help take care of elderly Bert Baxter and his fierce Alsatian Sabre.

However, the real drama is at home, where his parents drink too much and smoke too much and laugh too loud. He longs for quiet, intellectual parents who live with dignity and grace. Instead, he finds himself the child of a mother who lives big, loves big, wears bright colors and makes friends wherever she goes. His father is a little more like Adrian. He likes order and cleanliness, but he also loves to play his music too loud and he adores his wife.

But the path of true love never does run true, and when Adrian’s mother starts spending more time with the neighbor Mr. Lucas, Adrian starts to worry about what will happen to them at home. But as the days go by, and Adrian’s diary entries add up, and the neighborhood goes all out for the wedding of Charles and Diana, and Adrian earns the attention of his beloved Pandora, and his parents argue, and Bert is made to move into a nursing home, and Adrian finds the best way to deal with a bully, and he reads and writes poetry and questions life and learns about love, this diary becomes a funny, poignant, self-indulgent, ironic reminder of what it feels like to be a teenager.

I can’t even tell you how many times I have read this book or this series. Sometimes, when I just need a bit of comfort or some humor, I will open one up and start reading, for the chance to be back in Adrian’s world. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 is one of my all-time favorite series, and while I know not everyone will be able to appreciate the voice of this kid, I find that I just can’t get enough.