Keeping it Real

by Grace Dent

Published 5 March 2009

It's back to Goodmayes and the cast and characters of the very first Diary of a Chav (Trainers V Tiaras) for this 6th diary from Shiraz, for whom life is about to get just a little bit darker...

Shiraz is nearly 19 and has been living away from home for the past few months but is now back in Goodmayes, Essex in her old cell-like bedroom plotting her future. She's absolutely determined to get to college and get on her way to being a writer, who ACTUALLY GETS PAID this time! She knows she's going to have to have a few words with Wesley about their future as he's planning all sorts himself and it isn't fair. Can she really contemplate a future without her lovely Wesley? But will he ever fit into her new life? Talk about a total quandary!

And while she's mulling that one over her mum Diane drops a massive bombshell on the whole family and Shiraz's life is suddenly turned upside down. Soon home in Goodmayes seems like the only place to be, sorrounded by everyone she's grown up with, people she loves to bits...Can Shiraz give up her dreams? Does she have to? Wait and see.


Trainers v. Tiaras

by Grace Dent

Published 21 June 2007

For now, Shiraz is stuck on an estate in Goodmayes, Essex, with her sister Cava-Sue, her nightmare mum Diane and her loved-up mate Carrie. Hoodies, hip-hop and hanging about outside Claire's Accessories. Taking her flatulent Staffy for a walk. Lusting after local lad Wesley Barrington Baines II. It's a limited world for this loveable Essex dreamer. But when new English Teacher Miss Brackett arrives at Mayflower Academy, Shiraz is made to see there's more to life than getting excluded, suped up Vauxhall Novas and Chicago Town pizza. It's time Shiraz began thinking what she wants to do with life. And what sort of person she wants to be. A lot of snooty folk call Shiraz Bailey Wood 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.


Lost in Ibiza

by Grace Dent

Published 19 June 2008

Shiraz Bailey Wood is back! Having just about recovered from her stint in London with Carrie Draper, Shiraz is prepared to overlook Carrie's totally out of order flaky behaviour because Carrie's just talked her dad into paying for two flights to Ibiza in the summer and no one needs a holiday more than Shiraz BW!

Or so she thought.... Put it this way, the sleepy town of San Antonio, Ibiza, ain't gonna know what's hit it once a few other randoms from Goodmayes have pitched up and caused havoc. Uma's in, hurrah! But then Wesley of all people decides to bring stupid Sooz away to top up her tan. Not to mention Mrs Diane Wood! Still, Shiraz and Carrie are lovin' it, even if money is running out and the only jobs on offer seem to be bog cleaning and bottle washing at the local bar ... Will, Uma, Carrie and our Shizza have the holiday of a lifetime? It's all in the diaries, bruv. Read on!


Slinging the Bling

by Grace Dent

Published 16 August 2007
The divine Shiraz Bailey Wood is back to enlighten us on the multi-layered, rich tapestry that is her life in Goodmayes Essex. Shiraz is astonished to discover that she has passed eight GCSE's and is actually clever! Emboldened, she decides she can't waste her brain power on a job at 'Mr Yolk', the local greasy spoon. No, she'll stay on at the Mayflower Sixth Form 'Centre of Excellence' and get even brainier. Best friend Carrie is of a like-mind and so, armed with text books and pencil cases, the intrepid pair set forth into the heady world of academia. Soon Shiraz is hanging out with other boffin types, amongst them the gorgeous Joshua, with the sharp cheekbones and the whopping allowance. But will Shiraz really dump the devoted Wesley Barrington Bains II for a smooth-talking lad with an Oxbridge future? Read SBW's hilarious, heart-rending, irresistible diary to find out...

Fame and Fortune

by Grace Dent

Published 16 October 2008
After the nightmare that was Ibiza, Shiraz is overjoyed to be home in Goodmayes, back with her family, her friends...and Wesley of course. Wes and Sooz are finished and it's not long before he's a regular fixture round at 34 Thundersley Road - much to Diane Wood's delight. But Shiraz knows herself...and she knows that there's a big wide world out there, just waiting for the unique charms of SBW. Soon she's writing off for college applications and spending the rest of her time trailing after Carrie Draper, who's hellbent on infiltrating the celebrity circuit. Things get tricky when Shiraz ends up getting a job as PA to a Premier league footballer and his wife - Carrie had her heart set on it and she's furious, but how could Shiraz turn it down? She's not long into the job before Shizza realises that this celebrity lark isn't all it's cracked up to be...And at the end of the day, she really, really wants to be a writer. But what about Wesley? Can she really leave him behind for good?

Too Cool for School

by Grace Dent

Published 17 January 2008
Shiraz Bailey Wood has made up her mind. She's leaving Goodmayes, waving goodbye to Mayflower Academy Sixth Form and her part time job at Mr Yolk and moving to London with Carrie Draper. Carrie's got herself a place at Tabitha Tennant's beauty school, so she's sorted. Now all Shiraz has to focus on is getting herself a job. She has a bit of trouble finding the most suitable job mind, nothing seems quite right for a girl of Shiraz's originality and wit...And she has to admit, she's missing her family - even Murphy - something rotten. But Shiraz BW will not give up - she's going to finish what she started, even if she does keep looking out of the crappy flat window to see if there's a Banana Yellow Golf parked up front....