Diary of a Chav by Grace Dent
Release Date: October 1, 2008
Publisher: Poppy/Little Brown
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 234
Chav: (n.): 1. A word that makes most Brits think of hoodies, hip hop, bling, and trouble. (It ain’t a good fing, bruv.)
16-year-old Shiraz Bailey Wood’s days are filled with hoodies, hip hop, and hanging around outside Claire’s Accessories. Her parents work crap jobs and her school is pretty much chav central. This loveable Essex dreamer with a brain and a heart of gold is beginning to feel there might be a lot more to life than minimum wage and the bling of a souped-up Vauxhall Nova.
A lot of snooty folk call Shiraz a chav. Well if by “chav” you mean “charming, hilarious, articulate, and vibrant,” Shizza doesn’t mind that at all. Call her what you want. She don’t care. She’s keeping it real.
I was laughing my ass off the entire time I read this novel! Shiraz is a very lovable character. I wasn’t sure about this book at first. First off I had idea what a Chav was, and the cover scared me a little... But once I started reading I was sucked into to Shiraz’s voice. The novel consists of journal entries. Think Sloppy first, British style.
I may not have understood everything she was saying (thankfully there was an English dictionary for all the American cousins) but the girl is bloody brilliant!
Some of my favorites:
Baps: (n.) boobs. Also boobies, breasts, blouse potatoes.
Fangita-eater: (n.) this is a pretty, erm, rude word for a girl who things other girls are hot and doesn’t fancy boys.
Knob: (n.) a boys penis. But it’s also an insult too. “Stop being a knob!”
Marmite: (n.) brown yeast extract spread that British people have on toast, which to an American person who isn’t used to it will taste like Satan’s jockstrap.
Up the duff: (adj.) pregnant, knocked up, in the pudding club.
Despite what you would initially think, Shiraz is very smart. And unfortunately it isn’t something that her environment encourages. Her mother seems to think that a rich husband is the way that Shiraz needs to go. Which is very sad. But while reading the novel you’ll soon learn that Shiraz is not the type of girl to settle down with a rich husband, she has a mind of her own. She has typical teenage problems. Figuring what to do with your life, working through friendships, problems with boys, it’s all in there and humorously done.
While this novel lacks elegance and grace... if your looking for brutally honest, this just might be your ticket. I’m looking forward to hearing more of Shiraz’s voice.