On the way to her first day of class, Precious loses the notebook that she was instructed to bring while stealing food from a chicken restaurant. The journal represents her personal growth and academic progress. On that first day, it is empty and represents her hopefulness as a blank slate ready to learn. Her need to eat and survive nearly derails her, but the notebook comes back to her when Jo Ann finds it in the chicken restaurant and brings it to class. When Ms. Rain tells the students that they will write in their journals every day, Precious and her classmates find this daunting. They wonder how they are supposed to write anything when they don’t know how. At first, Precious writes tentative notes back and forth with Ms. Rain, but over time, writing in the journal becomes integral to Precious’s life.

Throughout her life, those who had power over Precious have written files about her. These files upset her because they contain secret information about her, and even if she could see the words, she couldn’t read them. She wonders what kind of information they might have about her and what intimate knowledge that strangers might know about her life.