Honestly Elliott

Nina is Elliott’s mother and Mark’s ex-wife, and she lives in downtown Avery with Elliott. Nina is consistently supportive and accepting of Elliott. She reminds him of the things he needs to do, and she contains her frustration when Elliott struggles to complete tasks on time. For instance, when Elliott gets distracted while getting ready for school, she does not yell at him but instead gets him clean socks and drives him to school, so he won’t be late.

Nina, a static supporting character, is portrayed at patient, trusting, and kind. After ensuring that Elliott knows how to function safely in the kitchen, she allows him to cook, as opposed to Mark and Kate, who don’t trust Elliott. Elliott describes her as “the type of person who sees the potential in things” (6), suggesting that she is observant, compassionate, and supportive. She provides stability for Elliott, so he has a safe place and a safe person he can rely on while he is otherwise experiencing significant changes and challenges. While she is static, she often catalyzes the plot, such as when she suggests that Elliott pay less attention to Griffin Connor or when she tells him that all families have problems.

Mark is Elliott and Jonah’s father, Kate’s husband, and Nina’s ex-husband. He works a lot, sometimes traveling for work and often seeming to prioritize work over Elliott. As an A student and four-sport athlete when he was a child, Mark struggles to relate to Elliott, who finds school challenging and who dislikes sports. He takes an authoritative parenting approach, attempting to coerce Elliott into being more like himself so that he is more relatable. He also has a preference for neat organization. Elliott says, “Dad is not the type of person who misplaces his sunglasses” (29), implying that Elliott himself is the opposite of his dad. At the beginning of the plot, Mark believes that he can help Elliott through a tough-love approach.

Mark is a dynamic side character who develops throughout the text. Blaming himself for Elliott’s difficulties, Mark starts attending therapy and slowly changes his parenting approach. He begins to accept Elliott for who he is, and he also allows Elliott to keep all his money to pay for culinary camp rather than paying him back for the window, which is a demonstration of his growth. After attending therapy, Mark changes his parenting strategies, demonstrating that he is now working harder to consider Elliott’s perspective. Mark’s provides a lesson in parenting and relating to one’s children.

At the end, Elliott narrates at the end of the book that their relationship is not perfect: “He still thinks that I need to work harder at school (sometimes true) and that I should keep an open mind about sports (not a chance)” (253). While Mark develops, McDunn resists a completely resolved ending to suggest that family difficulties will always be ongoing and evolving. This reflects the text’s message to accept things for how they are instead of trying to make them perfect.

Kate is Mark’s wife, Elliott’s stepmother, and Jonah’s mother. She married Mark after he divorced Nina, and she moved into the house Elliott had grown up in before the divorce. When she moved in, she changed the décor in all of the rooms, which suggests that she was trying to make herself feel at home. However, these changes provide exposition for Elliott’s struggles with the changes in his family dynamics, and she oversteps by redecorating Elliott’s room, which made him feel as if his room was not reflective of his personality. Nevertheless, Kate offers steady kindness and support to Elliott, and she often subtly steps in to diffuse conversations between Mark and Elliott when things start to get heated.

Kate is a relatively static side character who contributes to Elliott’s character arc. She is a constant presence, but she does not force intimacy with Elliott, instead allowing him room to approach her if he wants and offering him support when he reaches out to her, such as when he calls her to get his math homework. Elliott’s views toward Kate change over the story, but Kate’s behavior and personality does not. In the beginning, he knows that she is a good person, but he resents her role as his stepmother. However, he comes to view her as part of his family, especially after Kate’s preeclampsia scare. Elliott and Kate’s relationship is not perfect—for instance, he is still not comfortable cooking at her and Mark’s house by the end of the novel—but it improves as Elliott learns to accept his family as it is.

Maribel Martinez is a sixth grader in Elliott’s Advisory class. She is smart and popular, and she comes from a family of doctors but wants to go into business when she grows up. Maribel has a falling out with her group after they refuse to make their cupcakes gluten free in consideration of her celiac disease, and she accepts Elliott’s offer to work together. After their success with their business project, Maribel and Elliott stay friends, as do Nina and Maribel’s parents, Gabriel and Carla. Her kindness toward Elliott illustrates her accepting nature.

Maribel is a prominent side character who contributes significantly to the plot, themes, and underlying message of making the best of what you have. She drives the plot by agreeing to work with Elliott, by managing the business project, and by interacting with Elliott. Her friendship with Elliott demonstrates The Power of Friendship and Mutual Support, as they each offer each other support. By sharing her struggles with initially processing her celiac disease, she helps Elliott better understand that his frustrations with his ADHD are valid and normal. Her character also circumvents stereotypes and provides an inclusive model in which school children cross social boundaries, finding new friends in the process.

Malcolm is Elliott’s best friend. They met when Elliott and Nina moved into the house across the street from Malcolm and his mothers, Janice and Grace. Before sixth grade started, Janice and Grace rented their house to someone else, and they are traveling around the country with Malcolm, meaning that Elliott started the school year without any friends nearby. Early in the story, Malcolm writes that he won’t be returning for another year.

Malcolm is an absent secondary character who serves to establish the context of Elliott’s isolation. He is characterized as kind and accepting, and he is a supportive friend who accepts Elliott for who he is, despite his tendency to make mistakes and his dislike of sports. Through his absence, McDunn introduces the theme The Power of Friendship and Mutual Support; Elliott knows the importance of having supportive friends because of Malcom, but he is isolated because Malcolm was his only close friend. It is Malcolm’s absence that acts as the catalyst for many of the events, such as Elliott seeking new friends.

Drew, Victor, Gilbert, and Kunal are Elliott’s lunch friends, and they met in Advisory. The four of them play a video game called Kingdom of Krull, and they talk outside of lunch; Elliott only talks to them at lunch and feels left out when they discuss their game and jealous knowing that they socialize without him. When Ms. Choi assigns the group business project, the four boys refuse to let Elliott join their group, although Kunal suggests that they could make room for him. Later, Elliott contributes to their group by suggesting that they sell cotton balls to simulate cannon balls, and they help him by suggesting that he and Maribel sell mini pies. Elliott’s distant but fun friendship with the boys by the end underscores one of the novel’s messages that not all friends need to be close—as Dr. Gilmore says, some are for talking to and some are for doing things with. Elliott gets the chance to develop his relationship with Kunal when he sees Kunal at Sugar Rush after therapy. Their friendship continues to develop, and at the end of the story, Kunal and his family come to dinner at Nina’s.

All four boys are side characters, with Drew, Victor, and Gilbert being more static and less involved in the story and Kunal being more dynamic with a more influential role. Drew, Victor, and Gilbert are portrayed as rude and dismissive; they tolerate Elliott’s presence, but they ostracize him. Kunal, however, is kinder and more accepting of Elliott. He tries to speak up for Elliott but doesn’t feel comfortable pushing too hard against his other friends. He also accepts Elliott and his ADHD without judgment, like Malcolm did before he left. As such, Kunal supports Elliott’s character arc, highlighting The Power of Friendship and Mutual Support. He also advances the plot, particularly through sharing the donut that inspires Elliott’s idea for the crumble pie crust. This help suggests that having a wide range of community is useful because people have different ideas and perspectives; this contrasts with Elliott’s fixation on one chef, Griffin Connor, and one friend, Malcolm.

Dr. Gilmore is Elliott’s therapist. He appears directly in the novel in Elliott’s therapy sessions, and at one point Elliott compares him to a turtle—“I don’t mean this in a rude way, but he looks kind of like a turtle himself right now. Nothing bothers turtles. They’re unflappable” (92). This both provides comic relief in an emotional scene and characterizes Dr. Gilmore’s consistency. During Elliott’s sessions, Dr. Gilmore has Elliott select games, and he lets Elliott lead the conversations; however, if Elliott brings up an important topic, Dr. Gilmore will press Elliott, challenging him to think critically about the situation in which he finds himself. He helps Elliott realize that he should apologize to Maribel and that he can feel better by talking about his emotions and experiences.

Dr. Gilmore is a static side character who supports Elliott and his character arc. Through Elliott’s descriptions of Dr. Gilmore and the therapy sessions, it is evident that Dr. Gilmore has a kind and professional demeanor and that he is a skilled children’s therapist. His lack of rounded character features and background details reflect his role as a therapist and listener who doesn’t bring his personal information to sessions.