43 pages • 1 hour read
Mike CuratoFlamer
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | YA | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Aiden Navarro
Aiden Navarro is the 14-year-old Filipino American protagonist of the story. The novel follows his battle for Self-Acceptance in a racist and anti-gay culture, one that is antagonistic to almost every aspect of his identity: He is short, overweight, biracial, and gay. While summer camp is usually a reprieve from the bullying he receives at school and the chaos of his home life, things are more complicated this summer: Puberty has turned the other boys into vulgar, aggressive, sex-obsessed monsters that he doesn’t understand. He also begins to experience confusing feelings for his tentmate Elias.
Despite being kind, clever, and funny, Aiden often struggles to make friends because of how he is perceived. His best friend is a girl named Violet, whom he routinely writes to and receives letters from while at camp. Over the course of the novel, Aiden does connect with a few of the boys in his patrol—Elias, David, and Bobby in particular. Through Aiden, the story depicts the challenges of Growing Up as Someone Deemed “Other,” and how difficult growing up in a culture of hate is for children who do not fit with dominant norms and expectations. After years of bullying and being told that being gay is a sin, Aiden has developed self-hatred and refuses to accept that he is gay. He often feels isolated and excluded, and longs for a sense of meaning and belonging. One place he searches for this is within Catholicism, but its stance against homosexuality only exacerbates his confusion and makes him feel guilty about his feelings.
After several dreams about Elias, Aiden is forced to confront the reality that he is gay. His attempting to kiss Elias is followed by a series of events—Ted’s firing, a misplaced letter from Violet, and falling out with his other friends—that leads to a mental health crisis in which Aiden almost takes his own life. However, he survives, and after a confrontation with his own soul, realizes that regardless of what other people believe, he is enough and deserves to live.
Elias Schaefer
Elias Schaefer is Aiden’s tentmate and best friend at camp. He is tall, athletic, and attractive. Compared to the other boys at camp, he is much less vulgar, as well as more kind, considerate, and supportive. He never talks down to Aiden or pressures him to be more “normal,” and he never makes any harmful jokes or uses anti-gay slurs. The narrative eventually reveals that he is anxious about high school too because he doesn’t get along with most other jocks and feels like an outsider himself.
In a novel full of examples of toxic masculinity and its harmful effects, Elias provides a model of masculinity that is far less harmful and more inclusive. Elias’s other role in the text is crystallizing Aiden’s realization that he is gay. Aiden frequently dreams about him, both during the day and at night. At first, Aiden denies and tries to ignore his feelings for Elias, but as the two get closer and become more comfortable, he misreads some signals from Elias and tries to kiss him. Initially, this surprises and confuses Elias, causing him to distance himself from Aiden. However, he becomes worried about Aiden and searches for him when he goes missing, illustrating Elias’s good nature, and the two remain friends.
Scout Leader Ted
Ted leads the orienteering class and is Aiden’s favorite Scout Leader. In class, Ted calls out one of the boys for using an anti-gay slur. He carries himself with a coolness and confidence that is everything Aiden aspires to be. Ted is also the only adult in the novel who recognizes what Aiden is going through and provides him with the support and guidance he needs. Up until he is fired for being gay, he acts as a role model that Aiden can identify with.
Ted is an example of someone who has managed to navigate the complex, confusing experience of being gay in a hateful, intolerant culture. News of his firing is a devastating blow for Aiden. Through Ted’s firing, Mike Curato explores Systemic Discrimination.
Mark Jones
Mark Jones is one of the boys in Aiden’s Boy Scout patrol and the older cousin of Ryan Polowski. Of the boys in the patrol, he is the most antagonistic to Aiden and frequently expresses his annoyance at the ways Aiden is different. At several points, Mark approaches Aiden after an incident that has upset Aiden as if he is offering support or advice. However, he ultimately suggests Aiden should just be more “normal.”
Eventually this boils over when the two boys fight and Aiden knocks out one of Mark’s teeth. This is a significant moment, as it’s the first time Aiden physically stands up for himself. He also yells a series of anti-gay slurs at Mark. This is also a first for Aiden, who normally hates these types of slurs. In this moment, the overwhelming pressure to conform and be “normal” becomes too much.
Mark represents oppressive social norms. While he does not actively bully Aiden in the way some of the other boys at camp and school do, the damage he causes is more insidious and just as harmful, even though it is framed as coming from a place of care and concern.
David Green
David Green is another boy in Aiden’s patrol. Outside of Elias, he is Aiden’s closest friend in the Boy Scouts. They initially connect after debating about X-Men comics, then spend a lot of time together during basket-weaving classes where they discuss their fears about high school and agree to remain friends after camp. David makes an offhand anti-gay comment early in the novel, but doesn’t make any prejudiced comments after befriending Aiden. He also sticks up for Aiden when Aiden is bullied by boys from another patrol, and joins Elias and Bobby as they search for Aiden at the end of the novel. With David, Aiden enjoys his most natural, easy camp friendship: They connect over shared interests, they joke and tease one another in a friendly way, and they both feel free to be themselves and share their thoughts and feelings. While they have disagreements, they ultimately support one another in the end. This kind of friendship is rare for Aiden. His experience with David is important because it demonstrates that that he can make meaningful connections with boys at camp and school.
