Who is Gary Searle from Give a Boy a Gun and what is their importance?

Gary Searle comes from a single-parent home. His parents had a very bitter divorce and he lives with his mother in Middletown. Gary has always been a little overweight and teased by his classmates throughout the years because of this. Gary has an on again and off again girlfriend, Allison, who he spends time with and confides in. In the ninth grade, Gary meets Brenda, who is a new boy that moves to Middletown. The boys find a friendship and closeness in the fact that they are outsiders to their other classmates. Gary suffers from isolation and depression. His mother attributes this to the bad divorce, but encourages Gary to get out, make new friends and do normal teenager activities. Gary's mom even takes him to a psychologist to work through his issues. Gary is also friends with one of the athletes and popular boys, Ryan Clancy, but Ryan notices numerous signs that there is a dark side to Gary and starts to distance himself from Gary when Brendan moves to town. Brendan enjoys playing violent video games, such as Doom and other shooting games.