Absolutely Almost

Albie’s new babysitter, Calista, is a 21-year-old art student, freshly arrived in New York from California. Little is known about Calista’s background, but she is free-spirited and unconventional; at their very first meeting, Albie notices a pink streak in her hair that he knows his parents would disapprove of. During their first day together, Calista is mindful of Albie’s thoughts and feelings, letting him dictate the day’s activities rather than go to the Met. She sees Albie as smart and kind, the former of which is new to him. Unlike the other adults in his life so far, Calista interacts with Albie without expectations of him.

This different lens through which she sees Albie allows him to better understand himself. Calista uses Albie’s love for donuts to establish Donut Days, which helps him cope with spelling tests on Fridays. Realizing that Albie is going through a difficult time when he refuses to leave bed after his birthday, Calista allows him to sit with his emotions. Her accepting personality allows Albie to trust and open up to her. In turn, she offers him sage advice on occasion, such as when she tells Albie that it is more important to find what one loves rather than what one is good at, or when she helps him see that leaving Mountford Prep was one of the best things to have happened to him. Calista’s ability to help Albie look at himself and the world through a different perspective is represented in the cardboard TV frame that she makes for him.

However, Calista’s focus on Albie’s feelings sometimes comes at the cost of her adult responsibilities. While she allows Albie to lead the way on their first day together, she is also dishonest about it to Mom. This pattern of rule-bending continues in the unlimited TV time and donut consumption Calista allows Albie, and sometimes her decisions even surprise Albie; when she makes the fake Johnny Tremain book cover for him, he is surprised that an adult is helping him be “sneaky.” Calista’s spontaneity sometimes leads her to make decisions without thought for the long-term consequences, like when she takes Albie to the zoo on a “sad day” and later allows Albie to lie to his parents about it. When discovered, this leads to her firing.

Calista’s story arc represents the upside of looking at things afresh and following your heart, and the need to balance it with responsibility. From a narrative perspective, Calista’s departure from Albie’s life concludes her contribution to his character growth. Calista helped Albie regain his self-esteem; he no longer needs her and must, instead, grow in different ways. This is shown in how he easily befriends the new girl Darissa, his gradual progress on his spelling tests after studying with Betsy, and even the gold star he receives in math club. While Albie misses Calista, her work here is done.

Hannah Schaffhauser, known throughout the book as Mom, is Albie’s mother. She is of Korean heritage, and her father, Grandpa Park, makes a couple of appearances in the story. Mom seems to have been a high achiever as a child; she read and loved Johnny Tremain and was class treasurer at one point.

Mom and Albie have a close bond, even sharing special rituals together: Every Saturday, just the two of them get coffee and dessert at a café, and Albie likes it best when Mom tucks him in at night, as she always tells him that she loves him and that he is “caring and thoughtful and good” (76). Mom is not always very expressive about her true feelings; however, the attachment Albie and Mom share leads him to intuit those feelings, such as when he senses her disappointment at finding out that he does not have dyslexia.

This instance also indicates the expectations that Mom has of Albie, which seem to stem from her own father’s attitude. The very first chapter sees Grandpa Park calling Albie a “rock” owing to his academic performance. This indicates what Grandpa Park’s expectations of Mom may have been like when she was growing up. Mom, in turn, projects some of these same expectations on Albie, albeit in much subtler ways, as seen in her frustration when Albie miscalculates the tip, or her hope that he may have a learning disorder. At different points, Mom suggests Sherlock Holmes as a Halloween costume for Albie; she expects that Albie will enjoy reading Johnny Tremain; and she even suggests that Albie run for class treasurer. All of these are unrealistic expectations, considering who Albie is and what his capabilities are. Nevertheless, Mom seems oblivious to this.

Despite Mom’s unrealistic expectations of Albie, she truly loves and values her son. Even in the very first chapter, Mom defends Albie against her father’s criticism. Throughout the book, she reiterates to Albie that she loves him when she tucks him in at bedtime. Mom’s deep love for Albie is most visible when she feels protective of him, which also leads to her honesty. When Albie is upset about Calista leaving, she tells Albie that she is continually trying her best to be a good mother and just wants him to be safe. Similarly, when apologizing to Albie about Grandpa Park’s harsh words, she confesses that her father is not a “nice man,” and she tells Albie she is lucky to have a son like him.

Mom’s character represents the complex reality of a parent-child relationship; even unspoken parental expectations can negatively impact a child. At the same time, a strong and unconditional parental love can exist.

Albie’s father, Richard Schaffhauser, is known simply as “Dad” throughout the book. In many ways, Dad fulfills the stereotype of a father: loving and protective, yet busy and disconnected, evoking admiration and some degree of fear. That Dad loves Albie is evident. He pacifies Mom when she gets upset with Albie for miscalculating the change, and he strongly advocates for Albie to attend Erlan’s party without signing the release form, which shows his protectiveness. One of Albie’s fondest memories is of Dad taking him to the Sea, Air, and Space museum, from where they bought the model A-10 Thunderbolt that Dad promised (though failed) to build with him.

However, these instances also show both Dad’s disconnect from Albie’s regular life and the fear he evokes in Albie. When Albie has to call Dad to explain about the release form, he hesitates as he knows Dad dislikes being disturbed when on the treadmill; right enough, Dad gets angry at the interruption, though this anger is later directed toward the film crew. Similarly, although Dad promises to build the model airplane with Albie, he entirely forgets about it—in fact, he even buys Albie a duplicate model as a birthday present, with a repeat promise of building it together.

The distance in Dad and Albie’s relationship is most evident in Dad’s reaction to Albie’s academic performance. Completely ignoring Albie’s ability level, Dad demands a perfect score in spelling; subsequently, Albie feels so stressed that he tries to feign sickness to miss the test. However, not only does Dad then forget to follow up about the test, but when he does finally remember, he ignores Albie’s progress and instead expresses disappointment.

Eventually, Dad and Albie’s relationship improves, symbolized by the model airplane’s assembly progress. After Albie is finally able to be open with Dad and tell him about the first model airplane, Dad helps Albie put together the final bits of the second one. Dad then defends Albie against Grandpa Park, and he shares a moment of true understanding with Albie as they make a grilled cheese sandwich and talk about the class elections. The hard edges to Dad’s stereotypical behavior begin to soften, and he takes on more nuance as a character towards the end of the story.

Mr. Clifton is the leader of the school math club Albie attends. He is an older man with white eyebrows, is kind and funny, and enjoys basketball.

Mr. Clifton is immediately warm and accepting. He understands Albie’s abilities and limitations, encourages Albie when Albie loses confidence in himself, and gives him helpful advice. Mr. Clifton is open and honest with Albie about his own past failures, which inspires Albie to trust Mr. Clifton with things other than math club; he tells Mr. Clifton about Darren’s bullying. Mr. Clifton’s advice also inspires Albie to work harder at math as well as at other things, and Albie even finds a way to cope with Darren’s name-calling based on this advice. Most importantly, however, Mr. Clifton’s wisdom has the largest and longest lasting impact on Albie’s journey to self-acceptance: “You can’t get where you’re going without being where you’ve been” (84).

Despite his significant impact on Albie, Mr. Clifton’s presence in the story is limited, and he occupies the role of the mentor archetype. Mr. Clifton’s character is entirely positive—there are no layers or different sides to him. This contrasts with Calista, who is far more complex and gray in characterization. Both Calista and Mr. Clifton are affectionate and involved adults who see Albie without judgment and who support him through challenges; nevertheless, much unlike Calista, Mr. Clifton’s character is constrained to the mentor role.

Erlan Kasteev is Albie’s best friend. Initially living just down the hall from Albie’s apartment unit, he eventually moves across the city after his family’s reality TV show does well. Erlan, like Albie, has Asian heritage: His family is from Kazakhstan and, in addition to Erlan’s parents, includes his triplet older sisters and two triplet brothers. Erlan is a high-achieving student who does well in school and plays chess competitively.

In some ways, Erlan’s character is a foil for Albie’s. Erlan hails from a large family, while Albie is an only child; Erlan excels in school, while Albie struggles; Erlan is uncomfortable with the idea of fame even before the television filming begins, while Albie is thrilled by the idea of renown. While the book explores Albie’s journey and hardships, Erlan’s character is a reminder that someone in a different set of circumstances will nevertheless, face their own challenges.

Erlan’s relationship with Albie also demonstrates an important theme: the nature of true friendship. When filming begins at Erlan’s house, Albie is relieved that Erlan will still be his best friend even after becoming TV famous. Their friendship even survives Erlan’s move across the city. Despite Albie’s unstable friendships at his new school, things with Erlan remain the same; in fact, Erlan remarks that Albie is the only one who still treats him “normal,” indicating that Erlan values their friendship as much as Albie does.