56 pages • 1 hour read
Barbara DeeMaybe He Just Likes You
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | 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
Mila
Mila is a 12-year-old seventh-grade girl and the main protagonist of Maybe He Just Likes You. The story is told through her first-person point of view, and Dee uses this perspective to highlight the intense feelings of helplessness and shame that come from being a young girl undergoing changes and bullying in middle school. Zara often calls Mila a “baby” or “immature” because Mila is not interested in boys. Mila is happy to ignore the boys or treat them like acquaintances, while Zara, Omi, and even Max are dipping their toes in the waters of flirting and romantic relationships. However, Mila is far from immature. She has a lot of responsibilities at home: Mila has to walk Delilah, wait for Hadley to get off the bus (and then watch Hadley until her mother gets home), do her homework and practice the trumpet, and start dinner. Mila explains that her mother is “working crazy hard all the time,” but their family can “only afford the cheap cereal” (32). Money is tight, and her mother is already under much stress, so Mila doesn’t want to worry her mother when the bullying starts.
Mila explains that she has never “fuss[ed] over [her] appearance” (16), and fashion doesn’t matter much to her. However, her body has undergone many changes recently, and now she struggles to feel comfortable in her clothes. She notices that her jeans are “getting snug around [her] hips” (16), and her shirts are “getting tight across [her] chest, digging into [her] armpits” (16). Because money is tight at Mila’s house, there isn’t a lot of disposable income for things like new clothes, so Mila tries to make her old clothes work. Mila is smart, resourceful, and very emotionally intelligent for her age.
When the bullying starts, Mila begins to feel uneasy and unlike herself. She wonders if the basketball boys are seeing something in her that she doesn’t recognize in herself—something that has to do with her appearance, the way she carries herself, or the energy she puts off. She admits that “lately [she’s] been losing track of [her]self. What [she] looked like. What [she] sounded like” (52). The bullying causes her to feel like another person, one who is always angry and defensive. By Chapter 55, Mila is starting to feel vulnerable and exposed, “like [she] [is] walking around school with the top layer of skin rubbed off” (197). Still, Mila is determined not to let the basketball boys’ behavior get the best of her. When it becomes clear that no one is coming to her rescue, Mila learns the importance of using her own voice and standing up for herself. She pours herself into her passions—band and karate—and with the help of new friends, she stands up to her bullies and breaks the cycle of sexual harassment.
Zara
Zara is a seventh-grade girl and one of Mila’s best friends. Mila points out that there are two sides to Zara: the “loud, jokey, songwriting Zara” and the “super-sensitive Zara, who crie[s] at Disney movies and ha[s] this crazy idea that she [is] ugly” (28). Zara is a very insecure character who has a big crush on Leo and is self-conscious about her appearance. Mila points out that Zara has a mean streak, and “she [can] be nasty” (29) when her feelings are hurt.
Zara is jealous that Mila is getting attention from the basketball boys at the novel’s beginning, and Dee establishes this tension between Mila and Zara as early as Chapter 1. Mila voices her frustration with the basketball boys for ruining their O on the blacktop, and Zara calls Mila a “baby” for being upset. Zara and Mila’s friendship takes a turn for the worse when the bullying starts up. Although Mila doesn’t want the boys’ attention and turns to her friends for support, Zara becomes very jealous and even blames Mila for the bullying. Zara states that she doesn’t understand “why [Mila] think[s] all those boys are so obsessed with [her]” because Mila’s “not the only girl in [their] grade with boobs” (119). Zara doesn’t understand the difference between flirting and harassment, which fuels Mila’s frustration and fractures their friendship.
Over time, Mila learns that she cannot trust Zara to be on her side and support her. Even when Zara claims to be standing up for Mila, she makes it all about her. In Chapter 31, Zara tells Leo that if he doesn’t stop bothering Mila, she will “start to get jealous” (125), which shocks Mila. Zara gets upset when she learns that her friends didn’t tell her about the scorecard, but days later, she tells Mila that she has already forgotten about it. Mila realizes that the scorecard was “never that important to [Zara]” (235), and Zara once again made the situation all about herself and not about her friend, who was clearly hurting. Instead of using the news about the scorecard to examine herself and ask herself why Mila didn’t feel like she could tell her about it, Zara plays the victim and tries to manipulate everyone involved into feeling sorry for her. In the end, Mila starts to realize that Zara won’t ever change: after all, “Zara [is] Zara,” and she will always “[keep] [Mila] off-balance, unsure,” and Mila learns “not to expect any different” (235). Mila and Zara’s friendship doesn’t end, but it is permanently changed by the events of Maybe He Just Likes You.
Omi
Omi is a seventh-grade girl and one of Mila’s best friends. While Zara and Mila butt heads throughout the novel, Omi—who hates conflict—tries to remain neutral. According to Mila, Omi “trie[s] to avoid every conflict” (66) and will even walk away from confrontational situations because they make her so uncomfortable. While Mila’s friendship with Zara is strained because of the bullying situation, Omi and Mila grow closer throughout the novel, and Omi finds herself questioning her own non-confrontational habits to support her friend.
Omi is described as very pretty and kind, and she comes from a family that showers her with love, attention, and gifts. At the beginning of the novel, Mila and her friends celebrate Omi’s birthday, and Mila notes that Omi lives with her grandparents, who “always [make] a giant fuss about birthdays and holidays” (31). Unlike Mila’s small family that barely survives, Omi is surrounded by a big, extended family of caregivers. Mila comments that her own house “seem[s] like such chaos compared to Omi’s” (32), and Mila is a little envious of the stability in Omi’s life.
At first, Omi doesn’t want to get in the middle of Mila and Zara’s arguments. However, as the novel progresses, Omi has a harder time holding her tongue when Zara starts to dismiss Mila’s feelings. Mila is impressed and surprised when Omi calls Zara out for her bad behavior because historically, Omi “never took sides, never challenged Zara about anything” (206) and let Zara walk all over her. Omi learns about the scorecard, tells Mila, and then promises not to tell Zara. When Omi realizes the severity of the bullying, she urges Mila not to go anywhere alone and tries to stay close whenever she can. Mila calls Omi “a great friend” and “maybe [Mila’s] only true friend left” (153). Still, there are limits to Omi’s bravery, and Mila “[can’t] imagine [Omi] accusing anyone” (153) of bullying and risking repercussions.
Max
Max is a seventh-grade boy and one of Mila’s best friends. Like Mila, Max has been targeted by bullies before, and Mila says that Max is “always on the lookout for teasing” ever since Hunter called him “‘gay’ and ‘Maxipad’ and a bunch of other things” (59) the year before. Max is gay and starts to flirt with a boy named Jared throughout the novel. Max is still quite shy about his sexuality, and he worries about being seen with Jared in public, but with Mila’s encouragement, Max plucks up the courage to embrace his new friendship with Jared.
When the basketball boys start to harass Mila, Max is unnerved because it reminds him of his bullying experience from the previous year. When the basketball boys call out to her, Mila notices that Max is “hanging back behind Zara, like maybe he might want to make an escape” (35) and run away. Although Max’s bully hasn’t messed with him in a long time, Max is still intimidated by people like the basketball boys, and their behavior triggers a stress response. Max’s reaction shows how bullying can have long-term side effects and can permanently alter how a child sees the world around them.
Mila explains that Max didn’t want to ask for help when Hunter was teasing him, but Mila was the one who convinced Max to finally tell the assistant principal, Mr. McCabe. Max admits he didn’t want to do it, but Mila is his friend, and she is usually right about things. However, when Max urges Mila to tell Mr. McCabe about what has been happening with the basketball boys, Mila “just ignore[s] him” (217), which frustrates Max. Max feels powerless, like he can’t help his friend because she won’t listen to his advice, which strains their relationship for most of the novel. Max wants to help, and even though he doesn’t understand the full scope of what Mila is feeling, he can relate to her feelings of powerlessness and shame.
