The Diary of a Teenage Health Freak

Picking spots, smoking pot, period pains, and penis angst: The Diary of a Teenage Health Freak was essential reading for a generation of adolescents when it was first published in 1987. Paying clever homage to that other seminal diarist of the 1980s, Adrian Mole, this is a titillating peek at a year in the life of Peter Payne, a typical 14 year old boy. But this diary was written by a consultant paediatrician and a general practitioner, their work the result of asking real teenagers about their worries.

Among the humour is accurate but cringe-free health advice on topics such as puberty, …