Ellen Outside the Lines

As one of the other three members of Ellen’s team, Isa is a dynamic character who reveals more of themselves as the trip goes on. Isa is a new student who is introduced just as the trip is beginning. Because the trip plans weren’t made to accommodate them, there is an instant sense of tension and their being out of place. Isa’s purple hair and half-shaved head add to this feeling. They are given a room of their own on the girls’ floor, across from Ellen’s room. Like Ellen, Isa is different from most of their peers, and this is one of the reasons that the two relate so well with one another. Both have had the experience of enduring others’ judgments and being misunderstood, and they offer understanding to one another. Isa is self-assured and proud of who they are, and they have no shame in explaining their sexuality and gender. Isa is the biggest influence on Ellen’s journey of Embracing Self-Discovery and Freedom of Expression, and they encourage Ellen to find the pronouns that work for her. Ellen finds this admirable and wishes that she had the same confidence as Isa. As Ellen says, “Isa is so sure of themself, so confident. Then there’s me, who sometimes has trouble pinpointing what I’m even feeling” (224-25).

Isa is also an instant friend who accepts Ellen and the boys as they are and who is always there to help and support them, thereby proving instrumental in Ellen’s experiences of Finding Belonging Among Friends. Isa is also understanding about Ellen’s autism and knows that when Ellen experiences sensory overload, she needs to go to a quiet place. Through all of these positive and reassuring experiences with Isa, Ellen finds that she starts to like them as more than a friend. Isa starts to feel the same way about Ellen, and in the final moments of the trip, the two hold hands and stare out over the city together.

Laurel is Ellen’s best friend when the story begins, but they slowly drift apart over the course of the trip. Laurel and Ellen used to do everything together, and as they board the plane to Barcelona, Ellen is counting on spending the whole trip with Laurel. They have been growing distant recently, and Ellen hopes that the trip will repair that. However, the opposite begins to happen, as Laurel uses every opportunity possible to get away from Ellen and spend time with her other friends. When Ellen and Laurel do spend time together, Ellen finds that she can no longer relate to Laurel, who is becoming more interested in makeup, cheerleading, and fashion.

Early in the trip, Laurel pressures Ellen to switch teams, and Ellen agrees to ask even though she doesn’t want to. In her first major move toward independence, Ellen never asks to switch teams, deciding instead to stick with her new friends. With each passing day, Ellen relies less and less on Laurel until the two are almost like strangers. Laurel also attempts to use Ellen to get answers to the scavenger hunt, and she pressures Ellen to tell her Andy’s secret. Both of these things later get Ellen into trouble, and she has to work hard to repair her social missteps. Through her broken friendship with Laurel, Ellen discovers that true friendship lies in the acceptance and relatability that she experiences with her new friends.

Abba is Ellen’s father and a chaperone on the trip. He is a dynamic character in the sense that Ellen sees him in one way but is forced to reevaluate her understanding of who he is, particularly when he later reveals himself to have hidden layers. Abba is an understanding and patient parent, and he is always there for Ellen. He can read her emotional state without her saying anything, and he does his best to make the trip manageable for her despite the challenges that her autism sometimes presents. He also upholds the ideals of Embracing Self-Discovery and Freedom of Expression, both through his career as an illustrator and author and through his decision to approach religion, sexuality, and life in his own way. Abba grew up in a strict religious community, and when he gained the freedom of adulthood, he wanted to live in a way that made sense to him. Abba also wants to encourage Ellen to have the same independent mindset, but Ellen resists this at first, wanting to keep Abba close. Gradually, she allows herself to embrace new opportunities and begins to rely on her own strength and inner resources, rather than Abba’s.

Ellen’s religion is important to her, and she connects to her parents through the traditional practices of Judaism. When Ellen finds out that her abba doesn’t always eat kosher food, this realization alarms her because it challenges something that she has always believed. This is one of many experiences of Accepting the Unpredictability of Life, leading to Ellen’s eventual understanding that she cannot categorize people as neatly as she once thought she could. Ellen reflects that learning more about Abba has helped her to see the beauty of diversity. Although Abba is a reliable constant in Ellen’s life, he also pushes her to expand the boundaries of her comfort zone.

Andy is one of the other three members of Ellen’s scavenger hunt team. Between him and his friend Gibs, Andy is the more open and accepting character. He is first introduced when Laurel switches seats with him on the plane and Ellen wakes up to see Andy sitting beside her. This scene foreshadows the fact that Ellen will be on Andy’s team, not Laurel’s. Andy is shown to be kind and calming presence, and he is also a huge fan of Abba’s graphic novel series, largely because of Abba’s intentional decision to keep much of his narratives open to the reader’s imagination. Andy develops a crush on Xavi and tells his teammates that he is gay, but he hopes that they will keep this fact a secret until he is ready to come out on his own. Unfortunately, Laurel manipulates Ellen into telling her Andy’s secret, and Ellen unwittingly betrays Andy. She then has to work hard to earn back his trust.