A Thousand Boy Kisses

Rune is the other dual protagonist and narrator. He is a Norwegian immigrant to America, and early characterization of Rune portrays him as irritable and withdrawn, though easily won over by the five-year-old Poppy. Over the years, Rune becomes more open with Poppy but remains withdrawn with others, developing a “bad boy” persona by the time he and Poppy reach high school. His main friends other than Poppy are Deacon and Judson, who help him maintain a connection with Georgia while he is back in Oslo. Still, Rune notes of this period of his life: “It wasn’t long before I began to party. To drink, to smoke—to do the opposite of anything my pappa told me” (205). Rune’s remark implies that his “bad boy” persona is not a defining character trait but a reaction to his father’s perceived callousness—to Rune’s feelings of betrayal, his distance from Poppy, and his desire to express his anger in any way available to him.

Nevertheless, Rune’s negative attitude is an obstacle that Poppy needs to overcome to have a happy relationship with him. Rune thus becomes the receptacle for Poppy’s optimism and wisdom, particularly after he learns of her illness. In many “sick lit” works, a healthy character serves as a stand-in for the reader regarding the character with a severe illness, and Rune is that character in A Thousand Boy Kisses. He is a dynamic character, meaning he changes over the course of the novel, and the change he experiences is the direct result of Poppy’s influence. As Poppy’s condition deteriorates, she constantly reminds Rune to live life to the fullest; even after death, Poppy uses the boxes she prepares for Rune to comfort him and encourage him to live out his fantasies. Rune is then able to pass that support on to Savannah, and he spends the 10 years after Poppy’s death becoming a successful photographer, demonstrating the lasting impact of Poppy’s influence.

Erik and Adelis are Rune’s parents, who moved to Georgia from Oslo for Erik’s job. Because the novel is focused on Rune and Poppy, Adelis and Erik do not receive a great deal of characterization. Adelis, like Poppy’s mother, is a stock mother character largely defined by her love for Rune, Alton, and Erik and her attempts to mediate between her children and husband. At critical moments in the novel, such as when Rune discovers Erik’s plan to move the family back to Oslo, Adelis supports Erik’s decision while expressing sympathy for Rune’s anger; she also withholds knowledge of Poppy’s illness from Rune. Adelis is most supportive when Rune begins spending more time with Alton, which suggests that her primary concern is the security and happiness of her family, even if that means periodically disappointing Rune.

Erik is an antagonist for most of the novel because of the barriers he enforces between Rune and Poppy. Erik chooses to move his family back to Oslo for his job, and he downplays the meaningfulness of Rune and Poppy’s relationship, assuming Rune will recover quickly after the relocation. Even after Rune announces that he will hate his father forever, Erik continues to oppose Rune and Poppy’s relationship; it is not until Poppy reaches out to Erik that he mends his relationship with Rune. Erik is a typical YA father figure in this, as the genre often depicts parents misunderstanding their children. Erik does not hurt Rune on purpose, but he does irreparable damage to Rune’s love life because he thinks he understands the situation better than his son.

James and Ivy are Poppy’s parents, and they become friends with Erik and Adelis over the course of Poppy and Rune’s relationship. Ivy is characterized almost identically to Adelis, as her dominant trait is her love for Poppy and the rest of her family. Though Ivy never holds any animosity toward Rune, she is initially unable to accept him because of James’s discomfort. She therefore expresses concern over Rune and Poppy’s relationship after Rune returns from Oslo, but she is ultimately convinced of the legitimacy of Rune’s love for Poppy by Rune’s dedication to caring for Poppy in her illness, coming to understand their relationship as a highlight of Poppy’s short life.

James is analogous to Erik in the antagonistic role he plays for much of the novel. He opposes Rune’s involvement in Poppy’s life both before and after the Kristiansens move back to Oslo because he sees Rune as a bad influence on his daughter; like many fathers of female love interests in young adult works, he implicitly worries that Rune is pretending to love Poppy because he wants to have sex with her. However, like Erik, Adelis, and Ivy, James sees Rune’s dedication in Poppy’s final months, and he ultimately concludes that Rune is a good and loving boyfriend. After Poppy’s death, James and Ivy welcome Rune into their home and family, resolving the conflict driven by James’s discomfort.