This is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn

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This is All:  The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn
Aidan Chambers
2006

The Summary
Written for her unborn child, This is All chronicles a short span of years in the life of Cordelia Kenn.  In compiling her journal entries and memories and seemingly random anecdotes, Cordelia shares a good portion of her life from adolescence to adulthood and offers a peek into mind of one daring, dynamic, and devilishly clever young woman as she learns to grow, to love, and to change.

The Good
Aidan Chambers creates a magnificently complex character in Cordelia Kenn.  She is deep, she is thoughtful, she is candid - and she is as real as any individual you may meet.

More than any mere diary, Cordelia's pillow book offers a glimpse into every facet of and thought in her mind.  It chronicles her memories, her experiences, her expressions and feelings on every conceivable topic from love to music, from literature to school, from poetry to trees, and everything which may come in between adolescence and adulthood.

You will love every part of her - the good and the bad - because everything she knows and everything she feels will, in some part, mirror you.

The Bad
Chambers' work is indeed immense. Comprised of five specific parts, or "books" as Cordelia appropriately names them, this novel holds all the stories of one life and it is a life rich with emotion, recollection, and experience. Cordelia bares all and tells all, which means This is All takes on some very grand proportions.

More importantly, in relating everything (and I do mean everything) about her life, Cordelia can strike upon some rather awkward subjects - that is, the subjects she broaches may leave the reader feeling awkward for peeking into her life. As I said, she shares everything, including her attempt to lose her virginity to William Blacklin, her first and truest love.

It makes you feel like a bit of a voyeur, if we're being honest.

The Ugly
Perhaps the worst part of This is All is the very end. Not to spoil anything, but, when everything is said and done and you reach the final book of Cordelia's story, I can almost guarantee you will hate to see her go.