Dana

*For information on this character in the cartoon, see Yodana (cartoon).*

 — Mrs. Jewls in "A Giggle Box, a Leaky Faucet, and a Foghorn"

* Heitz
* McCauley
* Schick
* Brinckloe
* Hockerman

**Dana** is a character in the *Wayside School* books. She is one of the many students in Mrs. Jewls's class. She is a girl who wears glasses and is very emotive, often laughing or crying way more than anyone else in Mrs. Jewls's class. This leads to John and Joe teasing her, though Mrs. Jewls appreciates how reactive she is to the world around her, and wishes other students would feel the same.

## Appearance

In the books, Dana's appearance is described as being a pretty girl with four eyes; she wears glasses. She wears a purple and orange shirt, and at one point had an androgynous haircut, which made her fear she'd look like a boy. At one point, she was covered in mosquito bites. Her hair is longer than Joe or John's, but she has less hair than Joe.

In "Stuck," it is revealed that Dana is good at making funny faces. One face has her puff out one cheek and raise the opposite eyebrow. Another, called the "goofball face," has her put her glasses on upside down, followed by pulling the corner of her mouth with her pinky finger, while using her other hand to tug her earlobe. There is additionally one called the "Doofus Face," where she closes her right eye, raises her left eyebrow, puffs out her right cheek, and sticks out her tongue.

## Personality

In the books, Dana is a girl who experiences difficulty controlling her emotions, as shown in "A Giggle Box, a Leaky Faucet, and a Foghorn." Whenever she reads a story, she often laughs or cries more than anyone else, and often laughs again when remembering something that happened earlier. She is frequently picked on by John and Joe because of this, often to her own disapproval, though in "Stuck" it is shown that she sometimes likes when John teases her. She is incredibly expressive, which seems to give her a special talent for making funny faces, as is revealed in "Stuck," though she tries to be careful with her expressions when under the Cloud of Doom. Dana often thinks about many of the circumstances that occur in stories, wondering about hypothetical situations that could happen to Stinky in the book *Stinky*. She seems to care a lot about the situations of others, and often hopes that everything will turn out okay.

Dana has some difficulty perceiving her emotions, as shown at the end of "A Giggle Box, a Leaky Faucet, and a Foghorn," where she doesn't realize how much she actually enjoys the stories she thought she hated. Mrs. Jewls points out that Dana is firmly invested in the stories she reads and wishes more people in her class could be like her. In "Up and Down," she is additionally seen getting extremely upset at a book titled *The Lost Giraffe*, though by the next chapter, "Consider the Paper Clip," it's revealed that it is her favorite book ever. Occasionally, Dana seems to be slightly oblivious towards a few of the things around her, such as in "A Message from the Principal," where she doesn't notice how much she learned about exaggeration after saying a very exaggerated statement, or in "Poetry" when she has difficulty finding a rhyme for "pink," while stating several words that could rhyme.

Due to Dana's emotional nature, often she has difficulty focusing when something bothering her pops up. In "Myron," she has trouble communicating with Myron after her dog Pugsy is hit by a car, and in "Dana," she has trouble committing to arithmetic because she is too focused on her numerous mosquito bites. Dana seems to be a fairly reserved character, as she is rarely seen interacting with too many other characters, though she appears to have close friendships with Jenny, Leslie, and possibly Myron.

## Relationships

### Jenny

In the books, Dana is seen interacting with Jenny with some frequency. The two are seen giggling with one another in "Calvin's Big Decision," and in "Jenny," Jenny worries about Dana when she is missing. Additionally, in "Stuck," Jenny joins her and Leslie for recess, though she feels briefly insulted when she sees Dana's Doofus Face, not realizing that it's stuck. As is seen in this chapter, Jenny joins Dana for recess, and goes to get a ball from Louis.

### Leslie

Dana is only seen interacting with Leslie twice, though based on their dynamic, it can be assumed that they are friends. Leslie joins Dana, alongside Jenny, for recess in "Stuck," and is proud of Dana when she gets back at John with her Doofus Face. When Leslie realizes Dana's face is stuck, she quickly rushes to get help from Louis. Additionally, in "After the Storm," Dana rushes to Leslie's defense during the game the kids play, proving that snow from the clump Louis tossed off the roof did in fact fall in her hair.

### Myron

Dana seems to trust Myron a fair amount, as shown in "Myron," when he helps Dana after her pet dog is hit by a car. Dana is glad to see Myron checking in on her the next day, and the two ride to school together at the end of the chapter. However, since Dana is reserved, her relationships with other characters are rarely elaborated all that much.

### John

    In the books, John is seen regularly teasing Dana, often poking fun at her for how over-emotional she gets when reading stories. This first appears in "A Giggle Box, a Leaky Faucet, and a Foghorn." It is unknown what John's motivation is, but he often invites Joe to join him. As such, Dana seems to dislike John, calling him a "ratfink" in "Poetry," and feeling disgusted by the concept that she could ever like him in "A Giggle Box, a Leaky Faucet, and a Foghorn." Though, other chapters seem to show them with a more mixed relationship, as although John teases her in "Stuck," it's revealed that Dana actually likes being teased by John, and feels bad when he takes her "Doofus Face" as an insult. In "Valooosh," the two additionally dance together, though the violent dance session consists of tripping one another over, so it can't be told if this is out of appreciation or not.

### Joe

While Joe often contributes to John's teasing of Dana, Dana doesn't seem to have nearly the same negative opinion. Typically, Dana focuses on John instead, and rarely brings Joe into the equation. She still doesn't like Joe, as she chases after him when he mocks her in "A Giggle Box, a Leaky Faucet, and a Foghorn," but for the most part, her distaste tends towards John.

## Appearances

For a list of every chapter and episode Dana is seen in, see here.

## Trivia

* According to the answers for "Report Cards" and the chapter "Poetry," Dana's favorite color is pink.
* Dana's glasses appear to give her extremely good vision, as in "After the Storm," she is able to make out four snowflakes in Leslie's hair that fell from the clump of snow Louis tossed off the roof.

### Other designs

Peter Allen design (British edition, 2004)Dana as she appears in the cartoon. (2005)Kim Jungseok design (Korean edition, 2006)Hillar Mets design (Estonian edition, 2008)Satoshi Kitamura design (Japanese edition, 2010)Aleksei Bitskoff design (British edition, 2020)Ramona Bruno design (Italian edition, 2021)
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Dana"
2. ↑ "Glum and Blah"
3. ↑ "Strange Facts"