Breadcrumbs

Hazel Anderson is the novel’s main character. The 11-year-old has “straight black hair, odd big brown eyes, and dark brown skin” (17). She’s adopted and a different ethnicity from her mother, and these factors contribute to the othering she experiences at school. The ostracized girl feels out of place and doesn’t know how to attain the social acceptance she longs for. One of Hazel’s most formative traits is her strong imagination, which introduces the novel’s thematic exploration of The Intersection of Reality and Fantasy in Shaping Personal Identity. Her view of the world is shaped by the fantasy books she reads, and she creates detailed stories and games with her friends. At times, Hazel’s interest in fantasy leads her to behave in immature or irresponsible ways, such as when she becomes so lost in her imaginings that she misses the bus or forgets her chores. Fifth grade is a time of literal and figurative growing pains for many children, and Hazel’s struggles are compounded by her parents’ divorce, the challenges of adapting to a new school, and issues controlling her anger and attention. Her problems at school cause tension between her and her harried mother, but Hazel feels like accepting reality means forfeiting her identity: “Being grown up mean[s] doing what grown-ups [want] you to do.