I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure

We have an Art Expo every year at our high school, and this year's theme was Body and Soul. We had an art student create a 3-dimensional body, and then we shined a light on it and projected a shadow, which represented the "soul". My juniors wrote their own 6-word memoirs, anonymously, and then we typed them up and posted them on the shadow. It was an amazing exhibit! We also had Post-it notes and pens available for the viewers to write their own, because once you start reading 6-word memoirs, you get inspired. (And you start thinking in 6-word spurts!). My juniors LOVE these books. We have also written 6-word memoirs from the perspective of characters in stories or novels. My kids have passed around this book like a bowl of candy, and any book that gets kids talking and reading is worth buying!!

Finding reading material that catches (and keeps) HS students' attention is an endeavor I'm always willing to accept.  I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure  fits the bill, for both guys and gals.Not only is it a terrific book for a quick read aloud and discussion, but it becomes the go-to book my kiddos grab during SSR once I've introduced it. When combined with Smith Magazine's site, smithmag.net, this book can be a great tool for teaching 'memoir' and how to infer - through print and digital media - starting with Mr. Ernest Hemingway's famous six-word story: Baby shoes for sale; never worn.And yes, we're working on our own six-word stories...

Are use this book in my fifth grade classroom at the end of the year. It is a great book.

Apparently, Amazon requires that reviews be at least twenty words long. Soooo......I read this book (less than 4,000 words?) in minutes, and can't believe I paid money for it. The content was so not worth it, I can't recommend taking the time to read it even if it were free. Other than a chance to brush up on modern teen slang, abbreviations, and arcane, esoteric pop culture references ("awkward turtle", "burnbook", "fanfic", "the Sims", "aspy", "wet seal", "SVA/KVU", "PHX/PDX", "Texas Pete", etc.), this volume was altogether so NOT entertaining (although I did appreciate the reminder that "CTL-Z" is the "undo" function -- I haven't been able to find that in the help section of my e-mail text editor, so I tried this key combination, and it worked).The "memoirs", supposedly written by 600 different people, were surprisingly -- or maybe not so surprisingly -- repetitive and redundant. Their most useful function seems to be to serve as compelling evidence in support of the argument that teenagers shouldn't write "memoirs" at all, at least partly because most of them seem to be remembering the same things.(Consider the preceding sentences a preface to fulfill Amazon's minimum word count requirement for reviews.)Keeping with the "six word" limitation theme, in addition to the subject line of this review, I just wanted to add:"In other words: dull, uninteresting book."

I love this book, and also all of the other books of this series. I have some one my Kindle, and actually bought print versions of several so I can more easily share an apt part.

This is an amazing collection for teens---go cautiously with 7th and 8th graders, though. Note: there are many harsh realities from teens living with great difficulties, some in dire circumstances.

I have the original 6-word memoirs from adults, and the teens collection shows as much skill, humor, and regrets as the previous one. I read through it in about 15 - 20 minutes before I gave it as a gift. As a teacher I would use this to encourage creative writing.

I have the first one and wanted this one to use in my classroom. Great for the kids to see they are not so different after all.

Not just words but thought-provoking statements