Kate and Maudie reveal much about themselves by volunteering to help firstgraders learn to read. Kate is understanding and more outgoing than Maudie, but they both feel apprehensive about starting middle school. Although they are only eleven-year-olds, they worry about choosing the "right" friends and about being accepted.

Kate's friends Jackie, Laura, and Chris form a clique—they pass notes to each other in class, plan exclusive afterschool activities together, and discuss their interest in boys, especially in Steve Bader, the "new boy" from California.

Maudie, on the other hand, is a shy, overweight loner; early in the book, Kate describes her as "sort of a dope—one of the kids that everybody wants to avoid."

But as Kate spends more time with Maudie, she learns to appreciate Maudie's intelligence, sensitivity, and sense of humor.

Miles's other characters represent realistic members of...