The Aqua Net Diaries: Big Hair, Big Dreams, Small Town

By Jennifer Niven

Book Overview

Jennifer Niven quit her job as a television producer to write the true story of a doomed 1913 Arctic expedition in her first book, The Ice Master, which was named one of the top ten nonfiction books by Entertainment Weekly, and won the Barnes & Noble Discover Award. She received high praise for her follow- up arctic adventure, Ada Blackjack, which detailed the life of one woman who overcame enormous odds to survive. Now, Niven tells a survival tale of a different kind; her own thrilling, excruciating, amazing, and utterly unforgettable adventure in a midwestern high school during the 1980s.

Richmond, Indiana, was a place where people knew their neighbors and went to church on Sundays. It also had only one high school with 2,500 students, and for both the students and the townspeople, it was the center of the universe. In The Aqua-Net Diaries, Niven takes readers through her adolescent years in full, glorious--and hilarious--detail, sharing awkward moments from the first day of school, to driver's ed, and her first love, against a backdrop of bad 1980s fashion and big hair. Like Chuck Klosterman in Fargo Rock City, Niven's talented voice perfectly captures the pain, joy, and shame of going through adolescence in America's heartland, making a funny, touching, and universal experience.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416954295
• ISBN13: 9781416954293
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

This book is timeless in it's recounting of High School

I loved this book for it's timelessness. I read it, enjoyed it for the clear writing and basically bittersweet stories. I then gave the book to my almost 14 year old daughter and she loved it as well. If you want to read a book about High School in the 80's and what it felt like to not be the 'most popular' but not the 'lease popular' and get inside the head of someone who just wanted to escape High School and be somebody somewhere else, then get this book and read it.

Everybody's High School

I have to admit this was written about a high school I know very well. But several friends have read it and all agree that high school memories are similar no matter your age or the size of the high school you attended. The chapters are short and make you press on to the next chapter until you have read the enire book. Even thought it has a pink cover, guys like the book, too.

Another Jennifer Niven success!!!

If you went to high in the 80's, or at all for that matter, this book resonates. It can't be easy to share one's most confusing and vulnerable days with others. Jennifer Niven does just that, with grace and wit. A must read.

Brings back memories

Having gone to Richmond High School during the same time period, it was not a difficult choice for me to purchase this book to read. What I did not realize, was that I was going to have a difficult time putting the book down. Jennifer did an amazing job of depicting life as a student at RHS and living in Richmond in the 1980's. The book truly kept me interested from cover to cover. This book is light-hearted and entertaining. Jennifer, thank you for bringing back memories that I now appreciate more than I did when I was living them!

Wonderful Read, Great Author

I was initally interested in this book because it was about my neighboring high school. What I got was an excellent read. I recommemd this book to everyone, especially those who went to high school in the 1980's. Jennifer captured the essence of the 80's all over. Anyone can picture their own Joey, Rip, Tommy and Ned while reading this book. It makes you think about those years once again and know that maybe it wasn't so bad after all.