Who is Addison Schmeeter from Waiting for Normal and what is their importance?

Addison Schmeeter is a cheerful, loving twelve-year-old girl who is in the sixth grade. Addie loves to play the flute and has a learning disability called dyslexia. Addie thinks that she isn't a very smart girl because learning doesn't come easy for her. Or, as she terms it, because she doesn't have the Love of Learning that her mother has. Addie has had a life full of abandonment. Her mother has emotional problems and is never there for Addie when she needs to be. The only stable person in Addie's life is her ex-stepfather, Dwight, who loves her as if she were his own daughter. Addie makes friends easily and is a thoughtful girl who thinks of others before herself. She has a hamster named Piccolo and was responsible for her younger sisters until they were taken away from her mother to live with Dwight. Addie wishes that she could be with them too, but knows that her place will always be with her mother. Addie's job seems to be taking care of her mother and hiding her mother's massive mistakes.