58 pages • 1 hour read
Erin Entrada KellyHello, Universe
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Character Analysis
Virgil Salinas
Virgil is an eleven-year-old middle school student whose family comes from the Philippines. He is physically small and thin, which makes him an easy target for school bullies. Aside from his physical weaknesses, Virgil is also sensitive, shy, and soft-spoken. This is a particular problem because he contrasts so sharply with his boisterous family, and Virgil tends to judge himself by the standard of their outgoing behavior. The only relative who understands him is Grandmother Lola.
Virgil’s shyness is a particular obstacle when he develops a crush on Valencia yet can’t bring himself to talk to her. Fear rules Virgil’s life, and it isn’t until he ends up at the bottom of a well that he develops the courage to tackle his personal problems directly. When Virgil risks himself to save his pet guinea pig, he begins the first uncertain steps on a hero’s journey that will change his life.
Valencia Somerset
Valencia is an eleven-year-old who meets Virgil in their school’s resource room because they both have special needs. Valencia is deaf, and she finds that this physical challenge isolates her from other school children. The class bully calls her “deafo” and her former friends abandon her when her communication problems slow down their games.
Because of her disability, Valencia is a good problem solver. She generally has to piece together what people are saying by a combination of lip reading and reliance on her hearing aids. For that reason, she uses her eyes to hear and her other senses to feel her way through the world. When Valencia teams up with Kaori, she finds a real friend and a way to use her unique abilities to help others. After she rescues Virgil from the bottom of the well, she finally establishes a friendship with him too.
Kaori Tanaka
Kaori is a very assertive twelve-year-old Japanese American girl. She claims to have mystical powers and advertises her psychic services to other kids. Kaori has transformed her bedroom into a consulting room for her clients, where she interprets their dreams and tells the future. When Virgil comes to seek advice about how to meet Valencia, she sends him on a search for five stones, little realizing that she’s also sending him on a dread adventure that will change his life.
Even though Kaori depends on the supernatural and sees the intervention of the universe in all phases of life, she is also an astute young businesswoman. She realizes that teaming up with Valencia will expand her clientele and bring her more recognition. By the end of the story, she helps Virgil solve his problem and breaks Valencia out of her self-imposed isolation.
Chet Bullens
Chet is the sixth-grade bully who taunts both Virgil and Valencia because they are different. He is physically bigger than his classmates and wears a pinched expression on his face that Valencia interprets an inborn meanness. Much of Chet’s abusive behavior has been learned by emulating his father, whom he considers to be an ideal role model. Though he wants to impress his classmates with how strong and tough he is, Chet is inwardly fearful. He thinks Valencia is a witch and that she might cast a spell on him. He also fears big dogs and stops harassing Virgil when the boy stands up to him, accompanied by Sacred. Above all, he fears disappointing his father by not making one of the sports teams at school. Chet’s abortive attempt to capture a snake gives him the comeuppance he deserves.
Family Members
Lola—Virgil’s tiny Filipino grandmother is the only relative who appreciates him for who he is. Lola believes in the meaning behind dreams and seems in tune with the universe, unlike the rest of her loud family. She also appreciates Valencia’s special way of hearing and doesn’t shy away from the girl’s deafness.
Virgil’s Parents and Siblings—Virgil’s family consists entirely of extroverts. His twin brothers are both physically strong and good at sports, while his parents are as loud and energetic as his siblings. Everyone in the family calls Virgil “Turtle” because he won’t come out of his shell. They aren’t unkind, simply inattentive.
Gen Tanaka—Gen is Kaori’s seven-year-old sister, who also assists in her sister’s psychic business. Even though Kaori gives Gen little credit, the young girl provides crucial connections that help their clients. She’s the first to suggest that Virgil and Valencia might both share a common interest in guinea pigs. She also brings along the jump rope that connects the ladder to Virgil at the bottom of the well and ends up saving his life.
Mr. Bullens—Chet’s father is a competitive person who thinks that winning is everything. He teaches his son some damaging lessons about how to get ahead in life by shoving others aside. Anyone he considers unworthy is insulted and treated disrespectfully. Mr. Bullens expects Chet to grow up to be just like him.
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