Rosalia da Silva

Rosalia da Silva is a minor character in ''How to Survive High School. ''She is a Brazilian girl from Manaus, and as a result of her own native country's brutal treatment of the Amazon Rainforest, Rosalia is an ardent environmentalist deeply concerned about the planet. Her most notable role in the series was in trying to stop construction from taking place on a new and unnecessary football field for the sake of the swamp that was to be drained and filled up to make room for the football field, a role in which she was unable to save the swamp but ultimately tried her hardest to. She is starting her sophomore year of high school in Book 1.

Personality
Rosalia is, for the most part, kind and extremely talkative and friendly (enough to be considered a bit annoying). When inflamed about something environmental, she becomes loud, angry, and shrill, and her talkativeness comes out in a flurry of speech so that she often ends up stumbling over and mistaking words in English with words in Portuguese in her rage and frustration. She is very passionate about the planet and constantly spending time with bugs and trying to pet squirrels and other animals that cross her path outside. She is studious and dreams of going to a prestigious law school to become an environmental lawyer. She also speaks with a slight accent.

Appearance
Rosalia has dark skin, curly black hair, brown eyes, and a large, round nose. She usually wears flower earrings as well as an oversized, loose blue shirt with a floral print, a black belt with a flower decoration, black tights, and beige shoes.

Book 1: The New Kid
Rosalia appears early in the book in some background scenes, but does not speak until Chapter 5. After Principal Stuhkup dismisses Arthur and Spencer, Tammy announces that Rosalia da Silva is there to see her. Ms. Stuhkup meets with Rosalia, who shows her the construction on the football field and argues that it must be stopped, but her pleas fall on deaf ears, and Principal Stuhkup is not only unmoved, but threatens to take action against Rosalia should she make another commotion about it. Rosalia swears she will do all she can to stop the construction and save the swamp.

Rosalia goes to the Bohemians, who she thinks will join her cause, and although they agree that she is in the right, they refuse to get involved in any way other than painting and writing. Layla, however, agrees to join Rosalia's cause. Eventually, she convinces Santiago to join her, but not without accidentally letting Tammy know about their plans. Santiago agrees to find others who will join Rosalia's cause, and he in turn recruits Marco, Nick, and Zack. Together, Rosalia and her ragtag team of rebels decide to sabotage the construction equipment, although it doesn't quite go as planned. When Principal Stuhkup simply gets more equipment hired, Rosalia takes a more direct approach, and she has herself and her friends chained to trees in the swamp to protest the construction, but her attempts are thwarted when Tammy and Principal Stuhkup work to convince Santiago (and through him, Marco and Layla) to come down from the trees and surrender. Rosalia finally gives up, but she swears the school will rue the day it decided to bulldoze the swamp.

Rosalia appears fairly depressed for the remainder of the book. She attends the homecoming game, and when the sinkhole disaster starts she screams out that it's Mother Nature's revenge on the school for destroying the swamp. After the fiasco is sorted out and Principal Stuhkup is arrested, Kendall reveals that Rosalia has started an ecology club at school and is leading the restoration of the swamp.

Trivia

 * Like most characters, her personality is derived from her name. Rosalia is a Portuguese name tying into "roses," and her last name is a Portuguese surname meaning "of the forest" or "from the forest." Both of these names tie into both her Brazilian descent as well as her love of nature.
 * Rosalia appears in Chapter 1 of the first book as one of the first characters Leo meets, but she doesn't appear again (nor do we learn her name) until Chapter 5 of that same book.
 * She is seen when another girl asks her why Leo is talking to himself. Rosalia's response is that he's probably crazy.
 * She is from the city of Manaus, which is very close to the Amazon Rainforest.