Claire's Diary — Karen Booth

Claire Abby is like any other seventeen-year-old girl in 1986. The boys in The Suburbs, MN are the pits, school is entirely too much work, and her snotty, lipgloss-wearing nemesis has the locker next to hers. The only thing that can save her from her miserable existence is her best friend, Jane, and her favorite band in the entire world, Banks Forest. Their music is the ultimate escape and their guitarist, Christopher Penman, is the ultimate imaginary boyfriend.

A real boyfriend seems as likely as the A Honor Roll until Tommy B, a boy she'd never thought about twice, actually seems to like her. Sort of. Sometimes, he's a jerk. Other times, he's as sweet as can be. Christopher Penman, however, is always sweetâ€"smiling from the posters on her wall, telling her everything will be alright. When Claire discovers Tommy has a secret, she learns that the only truly safe place is with Christopher, even if it's only in her dreams.

Claire's Diary is one of two prequels to "Bring Me Back". The second is "Save a Prayer".