Journal Books in Order

The Journal series is a set of short, diary-style books for younger readers, built around everyday teenage worries that feel huge when you are living through them. Roisin Meaney's entries in the line are Don't Even Think About It and See If I Care, the second written with Judi Curtin.

The format matters.

These are books about first crushes, awkward families, school, friendship rows, and the private thoughts kids do not always want adults to see. The tone is lighter and funnier than Meaney's adult novels, but the emotional ground is familiar: people trying to say what they mean, hide what hurts, and work out who might really understand them.

Don't Even Think About It is told through the voice of Liz Jackson, who is nearly thirteen and guarding her diary like state secrets. Her mother has left, her dad's life has changed, Marjorie is on the scene, and Liz is trying to handle friendship trouble, a first date, and all the small humiliations that can fill a school day. The comedy comes from Liz's sharp, dramatic take on things, but the sadness underneath is real.

See If I Care uses letters instead of one private diary. Luke in Ireland and Elma in England are matched through a school pen-pal project, and neither of them is happy about it. Both invent more impressive versions of their lives, because the truth feels too messy and too plain to admit to a stranger. Little by little, the lies tell the reader as much as the truth would have done.

The books are not sequels in the strict sense. They share the Journal idea more than they share one continuous plot, so readers can begin with either title. Still, reading Don't Even Think About It first gives a good feel for the voice of the series, then See If I Care shows how the same format can stretch into a two-person friendship story.

What carries both books is the idea that ordinary teenage problems deserve to be taken seriously. A bad date, a missing parent, a lie in a letter, or a fight with a friend can feel like the whole world at that age. Meaney keeps that scale intact, and that is why these books still feel easy to hand to middle-grade and younger teen readers.