DIARY OF A CHAV

Sixteen-year-old Shiraz Bailey Wood wanted an iPod for Christmas but got a diary instead. “What is the point in spending all December drawing arrows all over the Argos catalogue if NO ONE TAKES NO NOTICE??” In her initial entry, Shiraz hopes (among other things) that her school, Mayflower Academy, will shake its reputation as Superchav Academy, because if there’s one thing Shiraz can’t stand, it’s being called a chav—a British slang term that’s defined as an insult to working-class people seen as being fixated on copying American street fashion. Although Shiraz denies the label, her tough attitude and wardrobe of hoop earrings and tracksuits makes it hard to deny. And when her teacher and her sister, Cava-Sue, point out that there is life beyond Mayflower Academy, Shiraz begins questioning her ways. Thick with British teen slang as the diary entries that comprise the text are, the appended glossary is essential. Their rough, street-wise language provides a natural and unique vehicle for readers to see Shiraz’s self-exploration and growth. Hilarious and unflinching. (Fiction. YA)