Hills Village Middle School
The title indicates that the story takes place at a middle school and that it is probably not the best example in the country. The first-person narration of the protagonist makes it clear that it is much worse, in fact. "Okay, so imagine the day your great-great-grandmother was born. Got it? Now go back another hundred years or so. And then another hundred. That’s about when they built Hills Village Middle School...I think it was a prison for Pilgrims back then, but not too much has changed." This description presents a portrait of an old, crumbling structure that resembles a place for punishing adults more than educating the youth of America.
The Bully
Another reason that middle school turns out to be the worst years of the narrator's life is that the bullies get bigger and meaner than the ones faced in elementary school. "Miller put one of his XXXL paws around my neck and started lifting me like a hundred-pound dumbbell." This bully is actually known by the nickname Killer Miller. The description of his hands as gigantic paws capable of using another human for bicep curls with weight does the job of portraying the fear he instills in other students.
Guilt
Rafe, the narrator/protagonist, has been getting into trouble on almost a daily basis at school. His mother has been dealing with her own problems, including an abusive boyfriend. When she starts crying on her birthday, the guilt hits hard and feels not just like scum, but "one big slice of loser meat on toast." This additional imagery efficiently underlines just how deeply the feelings of guilt contributing to his mother's unhappiness are gnawing away at him.
Leo
Very early on the narrative introduces his best friend, Leo. "Do you remember that nursery rhyme about Jack Sprat and his wife? How neither of them ate the same thing, but between the two of them they got the job done? Same deal with me and Leo, except the fat and the lean are words and pictures." Rafe's text is punctuated with drawings throughout the book. In this passage, he is telling readers that the words are his and the illustrations are Leo's by comparing their situation to the famous skinny husband and fat wife in the nursery rhyme. The imagery is clear enough, but the reality will turn out to be substantially more complicated as the relationship between Rafe and Leo is revealed as much closer than that of husband and wife.
