Hoping to get teens talking about what is going on in their lives, San Francisco—based Chronicle Books has created a new title in its bestselling line of boxed, information-filled card decks. The latest addition, The Diary Deck, which ships this month, contains 50 cards compiling teenagers’ writings on a variety of issues—including friendship, stress, relationships, body image, depression, sexuality and drugs—as well as three follow-up questions on each card that encourage conversation.
Featuring a kid-pleasing author credit ("About Teens by Teens"), this publication has an intriguing genesis. The source of the material is the Diary Project, a Web site (www.diaryproject.com) launched in 1995 by Judi Shils, a TV producer who recognized the need for teens to share with each other their thoughts, dreams and fears—and the benefit of reaching out to peers.
Shils’s initial inspiration came from her experience escorting Zlata Filipovic, a young woman who wrote Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo, an account of her adolescence during the conflict in Bosnia. "Zlata visited the U.S. as part of the United Nations’ 50th-anniversary celebration in 1995," Shils explained, "and I accompanied her as she spoke to groups of American kids about her life as an adolescent during the war in Bosnia. I was amazed at how easily they opened up and shared with her stories of their own lives. It occurred to me that teens lacked a forum to really talk to others, and that the Internet could be a great global meeting place for them."
Shils first set up the Diary Project as a posting board, which, in her words, "gave kids the chance to post entries and dump whatever it was that was going on in their lives. I responded, explaining that I was a mom, and realized how much these teens needed someone to listen to them."
She then brought the Diary Project to the TV screen, producing six video diary entries featuring teens who had contributed pieces to the Web site. Two of these videos, which aired on NBC’s San Francisco affiliate, received Emmys. Shils also produced Life in Progress, a daily show based on the Diary Project that aired on the Oxygen network for some 16 months. She began conducting workshops in schools, which led to the idea of The Diary Deck.
"One of the hardest things I had to do," she noted, "was leave a classroom after I’d gotten the kids writing and talking about things that were important to them. I felt as though I was walking out after opening a can of worms. I was never sure that teachers were going to be able to keep the dialogue going, so I conceived of the card deck to help them do that."
After assembling a group of parents, teachers, counselors, psychologists and students to cull material from the Diary Project Web site—which to date contains more than 63,000 diary entries—Shils lined up a designer, raised money to have the deck printed and distributed a limited number of copies to schools where she conducted workshops.
She immediately saw how well this format worked. "The deck seemed to inspire instant communication among the teens," she observed. "The cards were so much more effective at igniting dialogue and discussion than were the pieces of paper I formerly brought with me to workshops. The deck somehow made it easier for kids to talk."
Aware of Chronicle’s successful deck publishing program for both adults and children (the 49 titles in the company’s 52 Decks series, spanning a variety of topics, have more than four million copies in print), Shils approached Nion McEvoy, Chronicle chairman and CEO, who is a parent at the school Shils’s 12-year-old daughter attends. "Chronicle was, of course, the perfect publishing partner for my project," Shils said.
Associate editor Lisa McGuinness, who edited The Diary Deck, agrees. "This format is obviously our forte, and it was very exciting to work on this project," she noted. "This has such merit, since it’s obvious that kids clam up at this age and it is so difficult for parents to find an entrée into dialogue with them. This deck, which also contains a mini journal with questions to help kids start a diary of their own, definitely encourages communication."
McGuinness also expressed enthusiasm for two additional deck-related spring children’s releases: Rubberneckers Jr., a follow-up to the popular Rubberneckers deck, which suggests backseat activities for even younger travelers; and The Super Duper Activity Book by Lynn Gordon, rounding up 120 games and projects gleaned from the 52 Deck series.
To promote The Diary Deck, Chronicle has created a six-copy counter display and plans to bring Shils to some regional booksellers’ shows this fall. Though the initial print run for the title was 15,000 copies, based on early response from retailers, McGuinness anticipates, "it looks as if we are going to have to go back to press soon." It appears that many are eager to stock—and stack—this deck.
