Ducky, Diary Two

by Ann M. Martin

Book Overview

Ducky works hard to be the best friend possible. But when it comes to Alex, who is very depressed, Ducky doesn't seem to be able to do enough. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 059002387X
• ISBN13: 9780590023870
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 11 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 6 to 8

Customer Reviews

5 STARS???? Should have been 100!!!

What can I say about Ducky Diary Two, #10 in California Diaries series? It was fantastic, informative, magnificent, amazing, superb, spectacular, great, thoughful, well-written, and addressed a VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE in today's society: DEPRESSION. For those of you who are not familiar with the California Diaries series, particularly the character of Ducky, here's a quick overview: California Diaries is a series that addresses very important issues in a familiar, informative, yet well-written way. Ducky McCrae is sixteen years old, and he is the only guy in the series: the other diaries are by Dawn Schafer, Sunny Winslow, Maggie Blume, and Amalia Vargas, all 13 years. Dawn is facing family and friendship changes, Sunny's life has been twisted around because her mum is suffering from cancer, Maggie has big family problems and is now being treated for anorexia, and Amalia is getting over an abusive boyfriend and trying to help everybody, especially Maggie. Ducky has many changes and pressures in his life. He tries to be "Good Old Ducky" to everyone, but he feels he is taken advantage of. His parents go on lonnnng business trips to Ghana and Sri Lanka, leaving him with his irresponsible clod of a brother, 20-year-old Ted. Ducky also faces friendship changes: his longtime best friends, Jay (formerly JASON) and Alex, have both changed dramatically. Jay decided the Cro Mags are heaps cool and now only cares about girls, and Alex has severe depression. The book revolves around Alex and his problems. (There's nothing bad about this.) Ducky tries to help him but how much can he take of...well, blank stares? Finally Ducky gets three words that help him: NEVER GIVE UP. This strong message flows throughout the book. Try, and then try again. Never, ever give up. It may sound corny, or stupid, but in actuality it is a very important message and is very fitting for the book. Anyway. So Ducky, who has tried to help Alex throughout the entire series up to this point, doesn't give up. He's an optimist who sees the best in everything and always offers help. But in this particular case, Ducky finds that he doesn't seem to be able to do enough: Towards the end of the book, Alex tries to commit suicide and was succeeding until Ducky saved his life. The passages that illustrate this scene are very heartfelt and well-written. They show just how serious this problem is. A great thing about this book is that Ducky, after Alex's suicide attempt, writes down notes on the warning signs for severe depression and teen suicide. The author, Ann M Martin, gets this VERY IMPORTANT information across, and is giving those out there who are trying to help people with depression some advice and help. The book goes on to tell how Alex survived, but has to be sent to a treatment center in Chicago. Ducky then goes to Alex's house to see how he is doing and to say goodbye, but Alex acts as if nothing happened. Ducky is shocked and angered by this, understandably, and what follows is on

Ducky Diary Two - Personal associations

I found this book to be inspiring and upsetting at the same time. It made me cry a lot. I can totally relate to Ducky, Alex and Sunny having been in all the positions. Dealing with my father's death at 16, dealing with the at times suicidal depression and still finding the time to worry about everyone else.Ducky's book made me feel like I was reading one of my own diaries, so it was a little spooky, but I find Ducky to be a great character, someone who will give himself over and over until he reaches exhaustion, then he'll still keep going. It is an inspiring piece of work that the basic message is you know you're gonna make it.Cheers, Mel

Great

Ducky is one of my favorite characters. His depressed friend Alex is so frustrating sometimes you want to scream, but it is very realistic and detailed. People have described Ducky as optimistic, I think he's a definite pessimist, but then life has burned his bridges. It was nice to see a more detailed relationship with Ted. I don't know how accurate Ducky's diary is, you can kind of tell the author is a woman without knowing who it is. One thing about the CA diaries, though I love them... how do they find so much time to write in their diaries? Ducky finds time to write several times during the school, before dinner, after dinner, the middle of the night (insomnia), etc....whew! I will say that reading these books makes me want to write in my own diary and they are very good, but really- how do they find the time? Overall: Really awesome book. His writing style isn't as enjoyable to read (at least I found it this way) as Maggie or Amalia, the "you" thing but I love his sense of humor and how he starts his entries like: After Math- The Aftermath. The book is very similar to Ducky 1, it's like an extension of itself. It's ending is similar, but much more hopeful. There's a wonderful breakthrough with Alex. Oh yes, one more thing... The book's message is inspiring but not corny. Never, ever give up.

I loved it!

This book was great. It deals with issues teens struggle with daily. Ducky has to deal with his parents coming back and Alex's depression all at once. I think Ann is a great author and CANNOT WAIT to read Ducky's next book!

Ducky can't figure out Alex's or Sunny's problems or his own

Alex and Sunny both have problems and the only friend both of them have is Ducky. While he is trying to figure out their problems his parents come back from a long business trip for Christmas. Then his parents want to go back to Ghana for Christmas. Ducky has to figure out Sunny's, Alex's and his own problems!