My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich

Granddaddy is Jeremiah Granville Norfleet, and he’s Ebony-Grace’s grandpa and mentor. Through him, she develops her adoration of outer space, and she enthusiastically embraces the narrative that he creates. Momma and Daddy blame Granddaddy for negatively influencing Ebony-Grace. Momma tells him, “[S]top filling her head with crazy stories since she’ll be in junior high school soon” (10). Granddaddy is wise and thoughtful, so he’s aware that Ebony-Grace might be “pushing all those kids away by talking about spaceships and aliens all day” (218). Using the diction of the outer space story, Granddaddy creates the Prime Directive. He steers Ebony-Grace toward reality, explaining, “You can’t be messin’ with what people already got going. You got to leave it the way it is. Respect it. Get to know what it’s all about” (219). With Granddaddy’s wisdom, Ebony-Grace learns to accept Harlem.

Granddaddy was one of the first Black engineers to work for NASA, and his job gave him lots of money. Aside from outer space, Granddaddy likes music, and he infuses his outer space tales with the diction of funk and soul music. Granddaddy first started telling Ebony-Grace the stories after they listened to Daddy’s mixtape “Fresh from the Boom Box.” Near the end of Chapter 17, Zoboi turns Granddaddy’s first story into a pulsating poem. The connection between Daddy’s mixtape and Granddaddy’s stories hint that science fiction and the culture of Harlem can coexist.

Granddaddy is not without flaws, and his downfall makes him something of a tragic hero. As the book is for young readers, and Ebony-Grace is a young person, neither the reader nor Ebony-Grace is sure about why NASA fired Grandaddy. Momma tells Ebony-Grace, “Your grandfather’s in a bit of trouble. I want you to know that he’s still a very good man who just made some bad choices, that’s all” (91). Like Uncle Rich, Granddaddy has “lady friends,” and he’d give Ebony-Grace “hush money” to keep her quiet. The emphasis on women indicates that Granddaddy’s problems relate to sex or sexual misconduct.

Daddy is Julius Freeman, and he’s Ebony-Grace’s dad, but Ebony-Grace views him as her antagonist, referring to him as the “leader of Planet No Joke City, the imperious King Sirius Julius” (16). Throughout the story, she refers to herself as King Sirius Julius’s “prisoner.” Separate from her imagination, Daddy is a working-class man who owns a brownstone (it belonged to his dad) and an auto shop in Harlem. He maintains a junkyard and buys miscellaneous things from people to give them money. He helps people in his community, letting Bianca and her grandma stay on the ground floor of the brownstone, and when Ebony-Grace walks around with him, almost everybody seems to know him.

Daddy tries to be a good father and takes on the responsibility of looking after Ebony-Grace even though he has many other things going on. As with Granddaddy, Daddy tries to pull Ebony-Grace out of her imagination, telling her, “You don’t wanna be regular. You wanna be dynamite. You wanna be outta sight. Just…not outta space” (168). He wants his daughter to preserve her individuality, but he doesn’t want her to become eccentric to the point where no one can stand her.

Unlike Granddaddy and Uncle Rich, Daddy doesn’t have “lady friends,” and the reader doesn’t know precisely why Daddy and Momma divorced. Ebony-Grace sometimes hears Momma say Daddy is “nothing but a low-down, dirty dog” (16). but the father whom Ebony-Grace and the reader see suggests that he’s mostly a good person. The flaws on display relate to gender, with Daddy privileging the boy crews in the contest. He also makes a mistake when he takes the money Granddaddy sent Ebony-Grace. Still, he planned to use that money for the neighborhood (the contest winners), and he accepts full blame for seizing the money and the ensuing fight between him and Uncle Rich. Daddy is an honorable person, and Ebony-Grace realizes his decency, expressing relief that she “didn’t take down the king” and “destroy the planet” (292).

Momma is Gloria Norfleet, and she’s a foil to Daddy. In other words, she has traits that Daddy doesn’t. She is strict and doesn’t like New York City, telling her ex-husband, “[Y]ou better keep Ebony-Grace away from all those greasy men and little street urchins!” (12). Momma’s dislike of Harlem might be one of the reasons why she divorced Daddy. As Daddy tells his daughter, “It wasn’t my idea to raise you in the South. I don’t care what kinda job or how much money your grandfather has” (169). Granddaddy is Momma’s dad––due to him, she has a privileged life. She doesn’t have to worry about money, food, or shelter.

Momma’s main concern is Ebony-Grace, and she continually scolds her for living too much in her imagination. Unlike Granddaddy and Daddy, Momma wants Ebony-Grace to be a certain way, and Ebony-Grace complains about the “many fancy dresses” (67) her mom makes her wear. Señora Luz calls Momma “so fancy! Like Dominique Deveraux on Dynasty” (67). She might be prim and proper, but she’s not a character from a soap opera. She goes to church, and she’s not a bad mom. She tries to protect her daughter and keep her away from whatever scandal surrounds Granddaddy.

Bianca Luz and Ebony-Grace have known each other since they were five, and now there’s a conflict between them, with Ebony-Grace insisting on continuing the outer space drama. Sometimes, Bianca is down to play along. She helps Ebony-Grace light rockets and adds, “To boldly go where no muchacha has gone before” (36). Other times, Ebony-Grace’s imagination embarrasses her, like when she pretends to be Wonder Woman with the Nine Flavas. Bianca also gets angry at Ebony-Grace when she calls the Nine Flavas “minionettes,” regularly reminding her that she’s in the crew and they’re her friends. As Bianca and Ebony-Grace shift between antagonists and friends, they resemble frenemies.

Bianca isn’t privileged. Unlike Ebony-Grace, she appreciates the food Daddy serves, eating the ham and cheese sandwiches and the pizza. Without Daddy, Bianca and her grandma might not have a place to live. Bianca doesn’t see lots of movies, but she wants to be a famous breakdancer and rapper—a B-girl. Monique calls her the most talented member of the Nine Flavas Crew, and Ebony-Grace discerns that Bianca is Monique’s second-in-command. The girls make fun of Bianca for liking Pablo, but Bianca claims he’s not her boyfriend. Like the other girls in Nine Flavas, Bianca wears tight clothes, indicating that she’s maturing. Bianca reinforces her maturity when she calls Ebony-Grace’s outer space play “baby games” (164).

Frenemies is also an accurate word for Ebony-Grace’s relationship with the other members of the Nine Flavas Crew. The girls like double-Dutch, breaking, and rap, and Ebony-Grace likes science fiction—the different interests cause conflict. The Nine Flavas try to include her, and they invite her to hold the rope, but Ebony-Grace continues to view them as antagonists who are out to get her and Bianca. As Rum Raisin Rhona screams, “She’s trying to kill us with that rope!” (131).

Aside from Bianca, Zoboi devotes the most attention to Monique—the leader. She calls Ebony-Grace an “ice cream sandwich” and makes fun of her skin color. Though Monique tries to give Ebony-Grace a role in the crew, she’s something of a mean girl. The other girls—Rum Raisin Rhonda, Coconut Collette, Vanilla Fudge Vanessa, Mango Megan, Pistachio Paula, Cookies and Cream Christine, and Strawberry Stacey—don’t play big roles and are mostly static or flat characters.

Diane is Ebony-Grace’s babysitter for a day. She’s an older teen who graduated high school, and she links to the gender and sexuality motif, with Ebony-Grace noticing, “Her shorts are so short that they might as well be underwear” (94). As the pre-teens dress like Diane, the implication is that girls grow up quicker in New York. Diane claims to have lots of ex-boyfriends, and by spending a day with her, Ebony-Grace learns about Harlem and meets the other kids.

Calvin and Pablo Jones are B-boys and foils. Calvin is mean and a bully. He thinks girls should stay out of breaking and rapping, telling the Nine Flavas, “This game is for men, so y’all can get on with your little jump-rope games” (207).

Pablo Jones doesn’t like Calvin, and he wants to be a part of the Nine Flavas. He calls himself Pablo Jupiter, as he likes outer space. Due to their shared interests, Pablo and Ebony-Grace become friends. He puts his arm around her, and she stops “breathing for a long second, and maybe [her] heart skips a beat” (281), implying Ebony-Grace may have a crush on Pablo.

Uncle Rich is Daddy’s younger brother, and he lives in the brownstone and has frequent “lady friends.” Through him, the reader learns that Granddaddy also has “lady friends.” Uncle Rich isn’t rich, and Daddy thinks he stole the envelope full of money. Daddy says, “I’m sick and tired of all your lyin’, stealin’, and cheatin’! You gots to get up out of my house!” (269). Though Uncle Rich didn’t take the envelope, Daddy’s words indicate that it’s something he might do. Monique adds to his questionable characterization when she screams, “We don’t want no pimps, junkies, and hos on our block, Mr. Freeman. You tell him!” (270). Yet Uncle Rich doesn’t harm or do anything bad to Ebony-Grace: He humors her imagination.