Within a year, freshman Julia Baskin has appeared on NBC’s “Today” show with Katie Couric and her name has been splashed across publications as prestigious as the New York Times. She even signs autographs for her enthusiastic fans.
Baskin and three of her closest friends are quickly gaining notoriety due to their recently published autobiographical novel, “The Notebook Girls,” a compilation of journals that the four Manhattan friends wrote together during their high school years.
The journal details the teenage high school experience, discussing everything from drinking and drugs to sex. In one particular section, the friends discuss their experimentation with pot the day before the SAT exam.
She added that the journal also includes their discussion on relationships.
“We talked about relationships and how frustrating it is to see girls conform [in] certain ways to please guys,” said Baskin.
The four friends began writing journals together in the middle of their freshmen year in 2001, when New York City experienced one of the most catastrophic events – September 11.
They decided to put down their ideas in a single journal, exchanging it from one friend to another over the period of four years. By the end of high school, they filled up five composition notebooks, detailing everything from their views on religion to their experience with oral sex.
“Two of the girls came up with the idea because we would write notes to each other and we had to write everything four times,” said Baskin.
The idea to publish their private journal to the public came about from one of her friend’s dad, who had a connection with the publishing world.
Baskin admits that there are numerous entries in the journal that she was embarrassed to tell the world, including her parents.
“I think there is a lot of stuff that makes me blush. I think probably the most humiliating thing was this time at a party when I think I had more than a fair share of substance. The girls wouldn’t live it down for awhile,” said Baskin.
According to Baskin, the journal not only provides details into their teenage experiences, but also sheds light on various religious debates and issues that she faced as a teenager.
All four girls who write the journals come from religiously diverse backgrounds. Of the four friends, two are Jewish, one is Catholic and the other is an atheist.
Baskin added that the journal is in its most original form. The editors only changed it when they thought it needed some clarification. Baskin said that all her friends wanted to keep it original.
“We didn’t want to it be polished.it would make it less real,” said Baskin.
The book targets a wide audience, including teenagers and adults. For teenagers, the journal life provides real tales of what everyday teenagers face. For adults, it sheds light on to what is really going on in their teenager’s life.
“For teens, I hope they can enjoy reading it and sympathize with us. For parents, our message is that teenagers can experiment and they kind of need to. It doesn’t mean that they are bad kids,” said Baskin. “I think it’s interesting how adults are so eager trying to find someone who can explain teenage life to them. When we had interviews the adults would focus on oral sex and trends of oral sex. When we talked to teenagers, they didn’t think of it as a big deal. The adults have totally different sets of values. I think it’s interesting to see the generation gap.”
Her friends who co-authored the journals are Sophie Pollitt-Cohen, a student at Wesleyan University; Lindsey Newman, a student at Cornell; and Courtney Toombs, a pre-med at Princeton University.