My father is a rat and my mother is a simp.
-- Mazie Phillips (chapter 1 paragraph 4)

Importance: This harsh, strangely mature statement, is 10-year-old Mazie's first diary entry. Its stark brevity reveals the emotional hardening forged from both poverty and dysfunctional parents, and foreshadows Mazie's adult persona—at least its external aspect.

Papa was not handsome. His eyes drooped, and his skin was the color of cold, watery soup. And those lines around his mouth and eyes made him always look furious, which he was. Lines don't lie. But he was tall and young and had so much hair, and I remember him as strong. That day, out in the world, he was our father.
-- Mazie Phillips (chapter 1 paragraph 101)

Importance: This diary entry, written by a 20-year-old Mazie, displays her spare, characteristic prose—and more. Though similar in its critical tone to her 1907 "My father is a rat. . ." note, this is tinged with empathy, even pride. Mazie might appear fearless and...