Monday’s and Claudia’s journals give each girl a voice as she comes of age, serving as a place to record thoughts they can’t express to others. Claudia’s journal symbolizes her craving to be an adult in the way she thinks she should be. She wishes she could write and read with ease, but she struggles to form the words in her entries. The journal also serves as a connection to her missing best friend, which spurs Claudia to write even though she finds writing challenging.

For Monday, the journal is a lifeline. She can’t ask for help or tell people she is being abused for fear of being separated from her siblings. The journal is the only thing she can confide in, and she writes everything down in vivid detail. Yet the journal isn’t entirely her own: She picks a pink journal for herself, even though purple is her true favorite color, demonstrating her deep commitment to and love for Claudia.

As someone with dyslexia, Claudia finds it easier to categorize people by a representative color rather than in linguistic terms. She understands that people have different perceptions of reality, just as everyone perceives color differently: “Some see rose and magenta, and others see coral and salmon.