Character Analysis
Samantha is Frannie's BFF since they were both little tots, and the two girls share absolutely everything. Even when Samantha hangs out with the annoyingly superior Maribel Tanks, she backs up Frannie's arguments and makes sure that Frannie knows she's got her back. She even supports Frannie when Maribel gets all touchy about the idea of people paying at her mama's store with only pennies:
"'Oh Frannie nothing. Pennies are money. Oh Maribel Tanks."
Maribel just rolled her eyes at me, then let them slide back over to the boy.
"Pennies are money," Samantha said. "You got a hundred, you got a dollar." (2.26-28)
Besides being a good friend, Samantha is also really into the idea of being a good person in the eyes of God. Her dad is a pastor, so religion is serious business in Samantha's life, and she's always looking for proof that God is among them. When Jesus Boy comes to their school, Samantha is the first to jump on the idea that maybe he really is Jesus:
"What if that boy really is Jesus? What if Jesus did come here, to where we live?"
"Jesus who?"
"Jesus-Jesus, that's who. God's son. Think about it, Frannie. In the Bible, he just showed up and then miracles started happening…" (6.4-6)
Because Samantha's belief in God requires a strict idea of what is right and wrong, and what does or does not constitute a miracle, though, she is disappointed when she realizes that the Jesus Boy is just a normal kid. She doesn't stop to think of how it's kind of a miracle that he's made them reconsider the role of race in the community… even if he is just a normal kid.