Hate List

Nick Levil is the shooter in the Garvin High shooting. At the time, Nick is finishing his junior year at Garvin, and he and Valerie have been dating for about a year. Nick arrives in Garvin freshman year. When Valerie thinks back after the shooting, she muses, “It’s funny that that name that would turn out to be the most recognizable of my class [as] Nick Levil […] was a name nobody’d heard of before our freshman year” (131). A mostly affluent suburb, Nick lives in the small, poor part of town with his mother. Nick’s biological father is not in the picture.

When he arrives at Garvin, he becomes an instant target for the popular kids, particularly Chris Summers. He is a point of immediate interest for Valerie’s growing rebellious side. She describes Nick when she first meets him: “Like me, he wasn’t part of the in crowd and, like me, he didn’t want to be” (132). At first, Nick’s character seems that of a misunderstood loner; indisputably, Nick suffers from bullying, a turbulent home life, and consequent anger issues. Nick also possesses a number of good qualities. He is intelligent, displaying an ability to read, understand, and quote Shakespeare, a skill he carefully guards until Valerie discovers his secret collection of books. In addition, Nick is romantic and sensitive, attending school dances for Valerie’s sake, leaving her hidden notes, and surprising her with a candy bar or rose. Valerie explains, “When he wanted to, Nick had a hell of a romantic side” (31). Finally, when Valerie’s mother throws away one of Nick’s shirts after the shooting, Valerie remembers Nick’s generous nature, in spite of the monster he becomes: “She totally didn’t get it—that shirt didn’t belong to Nick the Murderer. It belonged to Nick, the guy who surprised me with Flogging Molly tickets when they came to the Closet” (16). Together, they pool their money for a T-shirt, and Nick lets her keep it. Ginny Baker, after suffering major reconstruction surgeries after being shot in the face by Nick, later confirms Nick’s intelligence and kind nature as well, so it isn’t just Valerie who sees it.

However, the other side of the Nick, the side that grows stronger as the bullying wears him down, is full of anger. Mrs. Tate, the school guidance counselor, remembers Nick differently: “‘I spent more time with Nick than with my own son most days […] He was such a searcher. Also so angry. He was one of those kids who was just going to struggle through life. He was so consumed with hate. Ruled by it, really’” (47). Nick’s intelligent mind and inquisitive nature turn on him, and people begin to notice he speaks increasingly more of death, violence, and suicide. Valerie notes, “He had a sick sense of humor sometimes—we all did—but no way did we mean it” (27). But Nick does mean it; like the character in his favorite play, Hamlet, he sees an inability to act upon injustice as a flaw, so he decides to eliminate his problems permanently.

Nick’s tragic flaw, anger, becomes psychosis when Nick starts hanging out with Jeremy, a drug addicted derelict. The two smoke dope and fire guns at Blue Lake. Valerie notes, Nick became “someone I didn’t even recognize, really” (26). Readers see that Nick suffers from mental illness, and an anger so consuming he couldn’t escape it. On the day of the shooting, when Valerie sees him before he kills himself, she explains to readers, “No matter what else I remember about Nick Levil in my lifetime, probably the one thing I’ll remember most was the smile he had on his face when he turned around. It was an inhuman sort of smile. But somewhere in it—somewhere in his eyes—I swear I saw true affection. Like the Nick I knew was in there somewhere, begging to be let out” (104). 

Jenny Leftman is Valerie and Frankie’s mother. Before the shooting, she works in an office and is in a subpar marriage. She faces many pressures. For example, she remains in a marriage for the sake of keeping her family intact and because her husband is a successful lawyer. Social opinion also concerns her. After the shooting, she felt, according to Valerie,  that “[t]he more people who ‘forgave’ me, the less I had to feel guilty about” (8-9). Her emphasis on appearance is apparent as she leaves Valerie off at her first day back at school, remarking on Valerie’s lack of effort: “‘Maybe tomorrow you’ll wear a little lipstick or something,’” (39). However, when Valerie wore heavy eyeliner, ripped clothing, or dark nail polish before the shooting, her mom made harsh comments about Valerie’s misguided effort. One last example of her concern for social stigma shows when Mrs. Leftman and Valerie first attend outpatient therapy. While Valerie hops right onto Dr. Hieler’s sofa, her mother “stiffly backed up and sat on the very edge of it, as if it would soil her” (186).

She is often depicted as wounded, crying, or weak: a trait of vulnerability Valerie wants to distance herself from. Her mother, it seems, is always looking for approval, such when she returns to work for the first time after the shooting. Dressed for work, “she reached down with a free hand and smoothed the camel-colored skirt around her thighs. It was tentative, like it was the first time she’d ever dressed up before. For a minute, she looked as insecure as I was, which made me feel sad for her” (12).

Throughout the novel, Mrs. Leftman is depicted as wounded—by her husband, her daughter, and people’s perceptions of the shooting, but mostly her sense of failure concerning Valerie. According to Valerie, “One minute she’d be crying softly into a palmed tissue, shaking her head sadly and calling me her baby, the next she’d be an angry-faced, puckered-mouth woman blaming me and saying she couldn’t believe she gave birth to such a monster” (141). Although Mrs. Leftman feels victimized by the shooting, she carries tremendous guilt. She feels that because she raised Valerie, the creator of the hate list, she, as her mother, bears the responsibility for Nick’s shooting of those kids, and worries that Valerie will finish the job. After a breakthrough in therapy, Valerie understands her actions “had changed Mom. […] No longer was her job to protect me from the rest of the world. Now, her job was to protect the rest of the world from me” (224). The constant stress of her daughter’s potential for suicide, along with an unfaithful and miserable husband, only add to her downtrodden character.  

Ted Leftman is Valerie and Frankie’s father. He has a successful law practice and lives with his wife and two children. Ted is unhappily married to Jenny, escaping his marriage through an affair with his secretary, Briley. Fighting dominates his marriage. His children look forward to their divorce, which is put on hold after the shooting. Valerie describes her parents’ relationship: “Mom and Dad and their ‘discussions’ that always, always, always turned into screaming matches and ended with Dad slithering out of the house into a pocket of darkness, then Mom sniffling pathetically in her room” (57). When he finally announces his departure for good, Valerie explains her father’s feelings towards his first family: “Because the truth was, and we both knew it, he’d gone long, long ago. I’d just made him stick around when he really wanted to be somewhere else. In his own weird way, he was another victim of the shooting” (294).

With Valerie, his first response is flight instead of fight. For example, he immediately cooperates with the police, convinced of Valerie’s guilt in the shooting. Also, instead of dealing with the issues raised by having Valerie in outpatient care, where she flourishes, he advocates for in-patient care, which crushes her. His inability to defend her also shows when he picks up Valerie up from the party at the barn. His initial reaction is to pick a fight with her, bullying her, calling her a spoiled brat, and jarring her further. Although he accuses Valerie of being selfish, he exhibits at least as much selfish behavior as she does. 

Frankie Leftman, 14 years old at the time of the shooting, is Valerie’s brother. He is popular, hangs out with a clean-cut crowd, and chases girls. According to Valerie, Frankie is “totally full of himself. He thought he was some sort of fashion guru and was always dressed so stylishly he looked like he just stepped out of a catalog” (31). Despite the general turmoil at home, Valerie and Frankie have a good relationship “despite the fact that we tended to hang out with totally different crowds and we had completely different definitions of what was cool” (31). While Valerie hangs out with self-defined losers, Frankie’s friends are popular, playing soccer and going on frequent religious retreats.  

Jessica Campbell, a girl in Valerie’s class at Garvin High, is the most popular girl in school—so popular, Valerie sarcastically tells the reader, that “[e]veryone in the free world knew who Jessica Campbell was” (214). Jessica’s family adores her; for example, her father goes out of his way to purchase Justin Timberlake tickets for her. The family is so close-knit, her brother will come home from college to take her to the show. During junior year, just before the shooting, she runs for and wins the class presidential election.Valerie despises Jessica Campbell because of a recent exchange just before the shooting where Jessica calls Valerie by her hated nickname, “Sister Death,” in front of the entire class. She is also present, and laughs, when Chris Summers throws soda on Nick’s car at the movie theater. Though beautiful, influential, and blessed with a caring family, Jessica bullies her less-fortunate classmates, yet it is Jessica whom Valerie saves by calling out to Nick, as he is about to shoot Jessica at point-blank range.

This is not lost on Jessica; after the shooting, Jessica shows courage by going to the police with Ginny Baker and informing them that Valerie acted heroically to save her life. Jessica’s act of truthfulness exonerates Valerie. Jessica also checks in on Valerie through Valerie’s former best friend, Stacey. Jessica shows newly-found grace by asking for Valerie’s help with the student council memorial to the shooting victims: she admits that she needs Valerie’s creativity and perspective to improve the project. Jessica also extends kindness to Valerie by offering to eat lunch with her in the hallway so Valerie can avoid getting in trouble, and she takes Valerie to a party and to her own popular lunch table, even though she knows she will meet with resistance from her friends. Jessica’s strength is also clear in the story; instead of using her popularity to bully people, after the shooting, she uses her will to help bring people together.

Though Jessica exhibits confidence, Valerie notices how the shooting has affected Jessica. It not only makes her a more thoughtful person, it also makes her a more nervous person; for example, Valerie picks up on a nervous habit of Jessica biting the inside of her cheek, new after the shooting. Jessica also admits that nightmares from the shooting haunt her. Jessica explains that she is using her second chance at life to be a better person. She admits to Valerie: “I didn’t like you…before. I can’t change that,” showing the guilt she has about bullying Valerie and perhaps others (333). 

Morris Kline is Garvin High’s beloved chemistry teacher and track-and-field coach.He is a husbandand father of three, and is also a multiple teacher-of-the-year-award winner. Kline dies protecting students and a fellow teacher from Nick during the shooting. Valerie remembers him on the day of the shooting: selflessly “using his body to literally shield about a dozen students. He was crying. Snot running out of his nose, body shaking. He had his arms out to each side, Christ-like, and was shaking his head at Nick, defiant and scared,” as children ran or cowered behind him (66). However, Valerie recalls, as scared as Mr. Kline was that day, he would not abandon the students or Nick; and he refused to tell Nick where Mrs. Tennille was, likely saving her life. The news story about Mr. Kline’s death stresses his selfless nature. 

Jack Angerson is the principal of Garvin High; he is a stereotypical authority figure who wants the school to run smoothly. Students, especially dissident students like Nick and Valerie, make him nervous. In a flashback, Valerie recalls his “‘principal voice’” warning students to stay away from drugs and alcohol, urging them to eat well-rounded meals” (61). Angerson believes in these clichés; before and after the shooting, his primary interest lies in spreading the image of a wholesome school, where no conflict exists. To achieve this end, he initiates “a ban on all solitary activity,” according to Mrs. Tate (239). Mr. Angerson comes from an old school way of thinking when it comes to administration;banning all solitary activity, because of the shooting, demonstrates his narrow judgment. It also explains why Valerie depicts him as “Chicken Little” in her drawings; his preemptive oppression is likely the result of constant worry.

His straight-laced nature tends to put him into conflict with his students: while they hunger for dialog and change, Principal Angerson is reactionary. He urges Angela Dash to write articles casting Nick and Valerie as villains, giving him a scapegoat to blame, rather than taking on the larger problems of bullying and injustice in his school. He also whitewashes the rivalries and hate at Garvin in an article Valerie reads—an article, among others, that Valerie challenges when she sees students sitting at the same lunch tables, excluding the same people, and having the same arguments as they did before the shooting. 

Stacey Brinks is Valerie’s best friend before the shooting; when they first come face to face at Garvin after Valerie’s return, Valerie says, “Stacey and I had been friends since pretty much forever. We wore the same size, liked the same movies, dressed in the same clothes, told the same lies. There were stretches every summer where we were almost inseparable” (40). Inseparable though they may be, Valerie does not hold Stacey in high regard. She lacks Valerie’s tenacity, creativity, and empathy. For example, she only visits Valerie twice in the hospital, once when Valerie sends her away, and once to blame Valerie for the shootings. She also collaborates with the police, providing some damning remarks Valerie made just before the shooting, even though she knows she is taking Valerie’s remarks out of context.

In this way, Stacey is two-faced. She looks down on Valerie when she finally returns to Garvin. When Stacey and Duce turn their backs on Valerie, refusing to walk in with her, or to sit with her at lunch, Valerie notices Stacey’s “grin took on a superior slant that was really awkward on her face” (40), as if Stacey relishes feeling superior by excluding Valerie. Stacey, lacking personality, normally allows popular opinion, her boyfriend, or other people to dictate how she reacts, even if that means abandoning her best friend of many years.

Duce is a member of Valerie’s crowd; he is Stacey’s boyfriend and Nick’s best friend, and his character mirrors some of Nick’s qualities: intelligence, resentment, and dark humor. He remains protective of Nick’s memory, often accusing Valerie of not showing enough grief for Nick. His protective nature also makes him impassive when he wants to be. Valerie draws Duce with his back to her, like a brick wall; it takes Valerie a long time to create any breaks in that wall. Duce is also sensitive; while he lashes out at Valerie, when she meets Duce at Nick’s grave, his conversation reveals how frequently he comes to Nick’s grave, just to sit with him. He also shows his sensitivity when he explains to Valerie how hurt he was by how she ignored him after Nick’s death. 

Christy Bruter, a girl in Valerie’s class, is a victim of Nick’s mass shooting. She comes from a religious family, captains the softball team, and terrorizes Valerie. On the day of the shooting, she is the first victim, though she lives.Her continued torment of Valerie placed her at the top of the hate list. Christy suffers a gunshot wound to the stomach, ending her softball career.

Valerie initially describes Christy as “one of those girls who was popular because most everyone was afraid not to be her friend” (55). Unlike Jessica, Christy uses brute force and intimidation to gain a following; she is the one that gives Valerie the nickname “Sister Death.” However, this is not the first time Christy has targeted Valerie; Christy has bullied Valerie since elementary school. Before the shooting, Christy follows a textbook definition of a bully: “That one person who saw someone looking weak and vulnerable and just pounced on it” (156). However, after her recovery and under the influence of her grateful and religious parents, Christy Bruter outgrows hostility and moves on with her life, showing a newfound growth and resilience.

Dr. Hieler is Valerie’s outpatient therapist after she leaves Dr. Dentley in the hospital. Dr. Hieler acts as an advocate for Valerie, something she loses with Nick and doesn’t have at home. He does this by allowing Valerie to have more control over what happens in their sessions, by quieting Valerie’s mother to permit Valerie a voice, and by immediately offering his condolences when he hears about Nick’s death, something no one else does.

At once putting Valerie at ease, Dr. Hieler says, “I’d like to give you a lot of control” (189). This shows Dr. Hieler’s insight, as control is what Valerie craves. By creating the hate list, Valerie exerted some measure of control over her bullies and home life, so she needs to replace the hate list with something more appropriate, which Dr. Hieler immediately recognizes. Dr. Hieler shows more insight when he begins the session by asking Valerie about her hobbies; this catches Valerie off guard: “It had been so long since there were things about me that were important other than the shooting” (194). Dr. Hieler helps Valerie redirect her anger by aiding her in identifying her strengths.

Dr. Hieler displays great positivity; he combats Valerie’s sarcasm with humor, claiming he, an overweight man, can do an excellent back handspring. He often reverts to this humor when he senses Valerie is not ready to continue on a given subject. In addition, he decorates his office with interesting and positive elements, such as the wooden hot air balloon, which Valerie notices and compliments. When Valerie visits him after betraying Nick, she refuses to articulate what she did. Dr. Hieler, instead of forcing this out of her, creates a metaphor, using humor and wisdom to remind Valerie that the situation is not as black and white as she imagines. Ultimately, his efforts work, for when she goes to commit his image to canvas, she envisions a portrait of light, “no darkness” (273). 

Dr. Dentley is the in-patient psychiatrist at Garvin’s hospital; the two teenagers that work with him, Ginny and Valerie, find him off-putting. While he engages in talk therapy, his methods seem to have little effect on Valerie; it seems, in strong contrast to Dr. Hieler, Dr. Dentley uses a one-size-fits-all approach to his patients, a rather old-fashioned textbook approach, where some patients require a little more innovation. Also, in contrast to Dr. Hieler, Dr. Dentley appears dismissive of his patient’s feelings. During her therapy, Valerie dislikes “his psychology textbook way of talking” (180). Dr. Dentley also acts as though his patients are wasting his time. When she talks to him, Valerie feels, “his eyes wandering to something more important while I answered his Super Shrink questions” (180).

Mrs. Tate is the school guidance counselor, a kindly woman, who, though she faithfully tries to assist students with their college searches and daily issues, is clearly overwhelmed with a case like Nick. Overall, she is a well-intentioned person with a positive, though somewhat naive outlook. She has the right intentions when she pulls Valerie aside on her first day back, but then she takes her through the Commons by way of shortcut, triggering post-traumatic flashbacks for Valerie. She also proceeds to push college brochures on Valerie, trying to pick up as though nothing has happened, when the shooting has clearly changed Valerie. 

Mrs. Tennille, a difficult and unpopular teacher at Garvin, had an adversarial relationship with Valerie and Nick. Due to Nick’s frequent detentions and Valerie waiting for Nick during those detentions, Valerie explains, “Mrs. Tennille had hardly been one of my fans to begin with” (66). Her strict manner and dislike for Nick lands her on the hate list, and Mr. Kline dies protecting her. Valerie notes the irony as she reviews her sketch of Mrs. Tennille sitting sadly at her desk as the class argues about the shooting: “Wasn’t it funny that not all that long ago I would’ve said I’d wanted Tennille to feel sad?” (114). Mrs. Tennille acts as a contrast to Mr. Kline; whereas Valerie describes Mr. Kline as a teacher who supports and befriends students, Mrs. Tennille represents an authoritarian teacher, more likely to offer punishment than sympathy. 

Jeremy Watson is the twenty-something derelict Nick hangs out with. Jeremy has a child he ignores and a girlfriend he abuses.He does not work, and frequently uses drugs. Jeremy does not actually appear in the novel, but his character makes a lasting impression on Nick. Valerie notices Nick’s character change once he starts hanging around with Jeremey; she says she “was totally not seeing the real Nick. Like the real Nick was the one that showed up when Jeremy came over—that hard-eyed, selfish Nick” (27). As Nick grows increasingly violent, he mirrors many of Jeremy’s abusive traits: hateful language, drug/alcohol use, apathy, guns, and violence. 

Angela Dash is the reporter providing articles on the Garvin High shooting. Until near to the end of the novel, Dash remains unseen. When confronted by Valerie, Dash reveals her own callous, impersonal relationship with the actual victims; she asks if Valerie is there about the shooting, saying, “This is a pretty overdone story already. Except for the suicide attempt and the moment of silence, there’s really nothing new here. We’re ready to move on. The shooting’s old news” (377). Her statement comes on the heels of Ginny Baker’s suicide attempt, making the offhand remarks particularly unfeeling. When Valerie tries to express how much the students at Garvin are still hurting, Dash is unmoved. She represents the spin the media takes on these tragic events to suit their own needs, using pain as fodder to sell news stories.