The Dirt Diary
By, Anna Staniszewski
Character Analysis
Rachel is the protagonist in The Dirt Diary and is brave, caring and kind. This is shown throughout the novel when Rachel tries her best to help get her divorced parents back together. She cares a lot about her family."Can't you and dad try to work it out? For the sake of our family asks Rachel". (p.108) Rachel is brave because she starts spying on Brianna Riley for money. This causes Rachel and her best friend to get into a fight which bothers her because she is normally a very kind person and wants to make things right. "are you okay? He asks. I'm fine its just me and my best friend just had a huge fight and its been bothering me." (p.125) This proves that Rachel is a great main character and is willing to try to make everybody happy.
Development
The antagonist and the moral or theme are the two most important parts of The Dirt Diary. The moral of the story is to always follow your dreams. This is revealed in the story when Rachel is told over and over that she will never become a professional chef and that she is wasting her time cooking."Im not crazy about all the time you spend cooking says Rachel's mom"(p.36) Then Rachel enters her school cook off and wins against a restaurant cook's pastries! The antagonist in the story is a girl named Brianna Riley. She is always trying to find a way to humiliate Rachel. Especially when it comes to Rachel's job, she is Brianna's house maid."I'm about to tell my mom how Brianna and her friends have been making my life miserable all year"(p.35) The antagonist is crucial to the story because without her Rachel would not have anybody to challenge and push her to be her best. The moral is important to the story because without it Rachel would not have anything to prove for herself.
Evaluation
I would definitely recommend this book to other 7th-8th grade girls because you can relate and make some connections to Rachel. A book that is worth reading for me would be a relatable book that has some comedy and is always interesting. I like books that are hard to put down. This book met my expectations and was just that. It was relatable and funny. You should definitely read The Dirt Diary by Anna Staniszewski.