Character Analysis
Frannie's teacher for her sixth grade year is a woman named Ms. Johnson. Ms. Johnson is, for the most part, pretty strict—after all, she has a bunch of rowdy sixth graders to keep in check, and boys like Trevor don't make her job any easier. She's constantly barking at the kids to get back in line, and doesn't tolerate any back talking or stepping out of the lines.
Despite her strictness though, Ms. Johnson does try to see where the kids are coming from. She sees them as individuals instead of just as a faceless, nameless crowd. Ms. Johnson listens to the kids when they tell her what nicknames they go by:
And that's another thing I like about Ms. Johnson—Rayray's name is really Raymond Raysen, but he decided he wanted everyone to call him Rayray. When he told Ms. Johnson that, she jumped right into calling him the name he wanted. Everybody calls me Frannie and so does Ms. Johnson, but even if I would've said, "Call me Floyjoy McCoy from now on, Ms. Johnson," my name would be Floyjoy McCoy. (4.20)
And Ms. Johnson's not just trying to understand what the kids what to be called—she wants to understand what they're thinking and feeling, too. That's why she assigns writing exercises that help them to dig into their inner emotions. Ms. Johnson sees her students as full people, and invests in them as such.