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.
Symbols & Motifs
Clothing Choices
While clothes are a vital part of life, middle school seems to welcome a newfound emphasis on the importance of one’s wardrobe. As children enter adolescence, the way they present themselves to the world becomes a focal point of their identity, and clothing plays a big part in this. In Maybe He Just Likes You, clothes represent not only a person’s individual style but the way they are perceived by those around them.
At the beginning of the novel, Mila notes that she has had a growth spurt over the summer, and most of her old clothes don’t fit her anymore. Mila decides to “keep wearing [her] fuzzy green sweater” (16) because she doesn’t want to ask for new clothes when money is tight at home. For Mila, the green sweater that makes her look like “a fuzzy green potato” (16) represents a combination of her family’s financial status as well as her changing body. Mila desperately wants to cover herself up, but she is running out of options. However, the sweater becomes a source of shame as the story continues. The basketball boys fixate on the green sweater and are determined to touch it against Mila’s wishes, so she decides to get rid of it.
Mila tries wearing one of her mom’s old shirts that “looks like a tablecloth. [...] Or a blanket for Delilah’s dog bed” (49). She hopes that removing the green sweater will stop the teasing, but nothing changes. Callum tells Mila that “[her] butt looked nicer in that green sweater” (57), and Dante wants to see if Mila’s new shirt is lucky by hugging her. The boys are undeterred by Mila’s wardrobe change and continue to reference “The Sweater,” and Mila realizes that no matter what she wears, the boys will always find a way to call attention to her body. Mila tries to choose clothing that won’t “give out too much information” (108), but regardless of what she does, the boys will go looking for a way to make Mila feel self-conscious about her body.
Karate and the Kiai
When Mila first enters the karate class in Chapter 24, she is bemused and a little alienated by the dojo’s routine, discipline, and sounds. Still, something about the karate class draws Mila in and commands her attention. Karate and the “spirit yell” represent Mila’s journey toward self-confidence and inner strength. As she progresses as a karate student, Mila learns that there is more to the spirit yell than meets the eye.
When Mila joins the karate class, she thinks only of the possibility of physically defending herself from an attack. The basketball boys have violated her personal space and touched her without permission, and she is looking for a way to protect herself. However, Mila doesn’t see the practical uses of karate right away: She only sees the routine, strange rituals, and repeated motions. Samira encourages Mila to continue taking the karate classes, and she argues that Mila “can’t expect to feel different after just two classes” (170). Samira is right: for Mila, karate isn’t about developing the skills to beat up her attackers. Karate becomes an outlet for Mila’s frustration and a way for her to calm her mind and body and grow her confidence. She becomes stronger, more agile, and feels more equipped to handle whatever comes her way. For Mila, karate isn’t a weapon, but a form of therapy.
Ms. Platt tells the class that the kiai, or “spirit yell,” is a demonstration of one’s power. The shout can be heard in dojos and martial arts classes across the world, and although the kiai might go by other names, the idea remains the same: the sound is important for controlling breathing, “unnerv[ing] the attacker” (101), and expressing strength and focused energy. The kiai is an expression of controlled ferocity, and Ms. Platt teaches her students to make the noise from “way down deep in [their] stomach[s], not up high in [their] throat[s]” (178). The kiai has to come from the gut, and Ms. Platt stresses the importance of using “strong, authoritative voices” (178). The kiai represents Mila’s inner strength and the power she tries to exude when facing her bullies, and during the band concert, Mila taps into a different kind of kiai: the squawk of her trumpet during Callum’s performance. Mila raises her voice and makes her presence known, and she will not “cede turf” to Callum and his friends.
The Circle of Friendship
On the day of Omi’s 12th birthday, Mila and Zara take to the blacktop and form a large circle out of pebbles while Max distracts Omi. Mila explains that the circle is supposed to be an O for Omi, and it is formed from pebbles because Omi “collected things from nature” (1) like rocks, feathers, and seashells. As the girls form the circle, Mila decides that the circle of pebbles also represents a “Circle of Friendship,” and it has to be “big enough for the four [friends] to stand in” (4). The small circle of stones becomes a symbol of Mila, Zara, Omi, and Max’s friendship, and like the end of the first chapter, the circle will be broken and reformed during the course of the novel.
As Mila, Zara, Omi, and Max stand in the “Circle of Friendship,” they share a hug and sing together for Omi’s birthday. However, the warm and intimate moment is ruined when the basketball boys invade and mess up the O. After the boys leave, the pebbles are “scattered everywhere” (7), and the circle is ruined. This small act of destruction foreshadows the conflict of Maybe He Just Likes You. The basketball boys and their antics become a source of friction between Mila and Zara, and their tight friendship circle will be broken when Zara chooses her feelings over Mila’s safety and comfort. When Zara leaves the lunch table after another fight, Mila remarks that the Circle of Friendship seems to have a rhythm: “Expand, contract, expand, contract” (202). Friends are always coming and going, especially as Mila and Zara try to figure out how to remain friends through their feelings of jealousy, fear, and anger. Mila starts to think that friendship isn’t something permanent at all but a “temporary pebble O that just keeps on getting wrecked” (202).
By the end of the novel, Mila’s friendship with Zara has taken on a different form. Zara is still friends with Mila, but they are not best friends. Zara has started to hang out with other girls in their grade level, and she divides her time between her new and old friends. Similarly, Mila is still best friends with Omi and Max, but she is spending more time with Samira, who was there for her when Zara was not. Mila starts to think that maybe the Circle of Friendship “[isn’t] wrecked forever,” but it has simply taken on “sort of a squishy egg shape” (236). Zara might not be as close to Mila as she once was, but she is still in her life, being a friend in the only way she knows.
