62 pages • 2 hours read
Ben PhilippeField Guide to the North American Teenager
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Norris Kaplan
Content Warning: The section of the guide mentions attempted death by suicide.
Protagonist Norris Kaplan is a Black French-Canadian teen boy who has just relocated from his home in Montreal to Austin, Texas. Norris lives with his mother, Judith, after his parents divorced two years before the beginning of the novel. Norris is the child of Haitian immigrants who moved to Canada before he was born. Norris is closest to his mother and his best friend, Eric, whom he left back in Canada. Upon arriving in Austin, Norris decides immediately that he dislikes the place and begins to criticize and judge every aspect of his new city, including the people. Norris’s habit of being openly critical is nothing new to him, however. In Chapter 2, Judith highlights how Norris’s mouth has gotten him in trouble and hurt his social connections in the past, emphasizing how much she wants Norris to temper his vocal criticisms for the sake of first impressions at his new school.
Norris’s judgmental nature and critical mouth are his primary sources of conflict throughout the novel. Before moving to Austin, Norris’s only exposure to American high school experiences was through teen-centric movies and television shows, so he uses tropes and stereotypes to filter his perception of those around him. This is illustrated best through his field guide entries at the beginning of each chapter, where he writes his judgments about the cheerleaders, jocks, loners, and other people he encounters at Anderson High. Norris soon begins to crush on Aarti, a fellow child of immigrants who seems like more of an outsider, just like Norris considers himself. Norris’s affection for Aarti becomes the catalyst for the relationship between Norris and Maddie, as Maddie offers to help him win Aarti over. Despite getting close to both Aarti and Maddie, Norris’s judgmental nature still colors his perceptions of them, which leads to the fallout he experiences on prom night after Aarti tells Maddie about Norris’s field guide and the mean-spirited words within it.
Norris also forms a connection with Liam, a quiet and non-judgmental loner who helps Norris not only form a hockey team in Austin but also understand himself and the way he criticizes people without looking inward. Liam suggests Norris makes people mad and runs away so he can play the victim. Between Liam’s advice and the guilt Norris feels for hurting Maddie and the rest of his friends, Norris ultimately decides to stay in Austin and make amends, realizing he can be more careful with his words, judgments, and friends’ feelings.
Madison McElwee
Madison McElwee, known simply as Maddie to most characters, is a cheerleader and the youngest daughter of the McElwee family. Maddie is characterized by her selfless nature and seemingly endless energy and grace for other people. Maddie’s character is the primary vessel for the novel’s exploration of the theme of Selfishness Versus Selflessness as Maddie exemplifies selflessness to the point of self-detriment.
Norris’s first encounter with Maddie occurs during his initial confrontation with the cheerleaders, in the same scene where he meets Aarti. Maddie is the only cheerleader amused by Norris’s mean-spirited assumptions, like his guess that one of them must be named Madison. Maddie and Norris’s friendship begins a few chapters later when Norris seeks employment at the McElwee family restaurant, and Maddie helps him land the position. As Norris and Maddie grow close, Norris comes to realize Maddie is so selfless and accommodating that she takes “the back seat in her own life” (137). Not only did she step aside in her relationship with Patrick so her best friend could pursue him, but she also considers not accepting the head cheerleader position because she knows it would make her friend jealous. In addition, she helps manage the family business, babysits her nieces and nephews, and helps Norris with his attempts to woo Aarti. When Maddie reveals that she is concerned about taking the head cheerleader position, Norris advises her to be selfish sometimes—a line Maddie recites back to him on prom night.
In Chapter 28, during prom night, Maddie reveals to Norris that she’s had a crush on him for a while, despite helping him in his relationship with Aarti—another example of her selfless nature. She’s cared about him from the sidelines since she helped get him the family restaurant job. Maddie takes Norris’s advice and decides to be selfish by helping Norris see that Aarti has been messing with him and by confessing her true feelings for Norris. Chapter 28 ends on a positive note for the couple, only for it to come crashing down in Chapter 29 when Maddie finds out from Aarti about Norris’s field guide. After months of being kind to Norris, Maddie is devastated by the mean-spirited judgments in the book. Maddie separates herself from Norris until the final chapter, when Norris tracks her down at the restaurant. However, Maddie is not interested in continuing a relationship with Norris. In the Epilogue, Norris and Maddie are on friendly terms, and Norris feels hopeful that he can win her heart again.
Aarti Puri
Aarti Puri is an artsy teen girl at Anderson High and Norris’s romantic interest for most of the novel. Aarti is the daughter of Indian immigrants, and much of her conflict comes from grappling with the expectations her parents have set out for her future. Although Norris pursues Aarti romantically throughout the novel, Aarti’s character arc primarily occurs in the background of the novel as she goes from an aspiring photographer afraid to speak to her parents to having her first public photography showcase with her parents in attendance.
To Norris, Aarti embodies the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope—an artsy and independent female character intended to help the male protagonist discover himself through a spontaneous and tumultuous relationship. In a way, Aarti fulfills this for Norris, as she brings him to indie films, talks to him about her artistic hobbies, and helps him grow as a person through his experiences with her. What initially draws Norris to Aarti is their shared disdain for the jocks, cheerleaders, and other in-crowd people. Like Norris, Aarti seems to be looking in from the outside. Aarti validates Norris’s misanthropic opinions, and Norris likes that Aarti likes him. However, Aarti loses interest in Norris quickly, particularly after Norris brings her an impersonal snow globe souvenir from his trip back to Canada. Although they get back to solid footing, Aarti keeps Norris at arm’s length, never allowing him to become her boyfriend. Norris’s experience with Aarti, including her games, her complex interests, and her cruelty when she’s hurt, teaches him a valuable lesson about what he wants from a relationship and helps him understand that Maddie is a better match for him.
Norris helps Aarti also. After Aarti begins to trust Norris more, she tells him about her dreams of pursuing photography professionally instead of going to college. Norris helps her tell her parents this news, opening a dialogue between them so Aarti can move forward with photography. In Chapter 34, Norris joins Aarti’s parents at Aarti’s first photography showcase, showing that the Puris are open to Aarti’s desire to pursue photography. Norris feels that, wherever Aarti goes, she will lead an interesting life.
Liam Hooper
Liam Hooper is Norris’s first friend in Austin, Texas. Liam is described as tall with “a mess of curly brown hair at the top” (39). Liam initially approaches Norris after finding a flier Judith made advertising Norris’s need for friends. Liam is soft-spoken and chooses his words carefully. He acts as a quiet foil to Norris’s uncontrollable mouth. Liam helps draw Norris out of his shell socially and provides a buffer between Norris and characters like Patrick Lamarra. Although Liam and Patrick’s history is not defined, it’s implied they have a familiarity with one another, as Liam knows about Patrick’s negative body image and Patrick knows about Liam’s depression.
During Norris and Liam’s first hangout session, Norris notices a semicolon tattoo on Liam’s arm. The semicolon tattoo is a well-known tattoo in mental health communities symbolizing life after a suicide attempt. This isn’t revealed until Chapter 23, however, when Patrick refers to Liam having a “full mental breakdown last year” (225), leading Liam to act distant toward Norris and Patrick for the remainder of the chapter. When Norris yells at Patrick for outing Liam as a “Prozac popper,” Liam overhears and leaves, hurt by Norris’s words. In Chapter 24, Norris has a heart-to-heart with Liam, who reveals that he’s recovering from a suicide attempt and trying to get his life back together, but everyone treats him differently. Liam has clinical depression, and though he is on medications now, he acknowledges that it may never go away. Liam liked that Norris did not treat him differently because Norris didn’t know about Liam’s mental illness. Liam helps Norris realize that he’s responsible for the consequences of his words, not just in this instance, but also at the end of the novel.
When Norris tells Liam that he’s leaving, having made a mess of most of his friendships and relationships in Austin, Liam calls Norris a “poker.” He explains that Norris “pokes” people and runs away “so [he] can feel rightfully victimized” (331). Liam’s analysis of Norris making a mess, feeling defeated, and leaving for Canada helps Norris to realize that he’s responsible for fixing the pain he’s caused in Austin, ultimately leading to Norris’s decision to stay in Chapter 35. In the Epilogue, Liam works alongside Norris, running deliveries for the Bone Yard.
