Character Analysis
There are books that tell the stories of multiple people, or in which several characters are major players. And then there's Punkzilla, which is pretty much all about Jamie. It's Jamie's world—everyone else is just living in it. And because of this, we're giving everyone else supporting cast status.
P
P is Jamie's twenty-seven-year-old brother, a gay playwright in Memphis who's dying of cancer. He is the only member of Jamie's family to encourage him to be whoever he wants to be, and also the only relative Jamie trusts. The Major kicked him out when he came home for Christmas and came out as gay, so he and Jamie bond over their outcast status.
The Major
Jamie's father, an abusive ex-army guy who sends him to Buckner after Jamie gets arrested for stealing.
Edward
Jamie's older brother who always does everything right. Everything.
Mom
Jamie's passive mother, who's trapped in an abusive marriage to the Major and refuses to stand up for him.
Branson
Jamie's roommate at Washington House, best friend in Portland, and (literal) partner in crime.
Fat Larkin
The Portland criminal for whom Jamie and Branson steal iPods.
Buck Tooth Jenny
Branson's twenty-four-year-old sex worker girlfriend who writes to Jamie after he leaves Washington House (and collects doll heads to whom she talks and feeds Oreos).
Sam
The eight-year-old Jamie meets in the Idaho bus station.
Sam's Mom
The woman who agrees to give Jamie a ride. She invites Jamie to stay at her house, but he doesn't, because she thinks he's a pregnant girl.
Cornelia Zenkich
Jamie's Cincinnati neighborhood crush who ends up dating his brother Edward.
Black Betty
The woman at Washington House who dies when she sets her room on fire with a cigarette.
Jorge
P's partner, with whom Jamie ends up living after P's death.
Torris Stone
Another cadet at Buckner, this guy tries to teach Jamie how to do rifle drills and push-ups.
Abdus
The Pakistani kid at Bucker who gets beat up for being brown. In his sleep.
Kenny Kandinski
Abdus's roommate who looks the other way when Abdus is beaten. Stay classy, Kenny.
Carson Block
The man with whom Jamie hitches a ride the night he goes AWOL from Buckner.
Sergeant Mastaglio
The evil guidance counselor at Buckner.
David Voyce
Jamie's mean squad leader at Buckner.
Margaret
An anorexic student at the University of Pittsburg who has lunch with Jamie on campus.
Alan Skymer
This guy gives Jamie a ride after he bounces from Bruckner, but unfortunately, winds up molesting him, too.
Fifty Watt Dave
A Washington House resident who drives a remote-control car up and down the hall and tries to hit people with it.
Easy Elise
A junior-high girl in Portland who brags about being on a milk carton. Branson's trying unsuccessfully to call her for sex the night he and Jamie meet.
Spanish Dave
A guy on the run who sleeps on Jamie and Branson's floor at Washington House for a week. He claims not to know Spanish but speaks it fluently in his sleep, so…
Patrick Karl
The Buckner student who sends Jamie a welcome letter before he arrives.
Erin Blake
The college freshman whose parents own the Lakeside Motel in Buffalo, Wyoming. She's working behind the counter the day Jamie arrives.
Lewis Williams
The transgender man Jamie meets at the Lakeside Motel. He feeds Jamie and gives him forty bucks. Thanks, Lewis.
Luther
The obese guy who smells like pee and drives Jamie across Nebraska.
Chad Haggis
A football player and bully with whom Jamie went to junior high.
Will
The photographer who gives Jamie a hundred bucks for a photo shoot. Just like he says he will.
Grandma Beauty
Jamie's grandmother. She sends him a care package at Buckner and encourages him to stay Catholic.
Kent
The cool guy who picks Jamie up at a rest stop and drives him across Illinois. He's Marty's ex husband, and Albertina's dad.
Albertina
Kent's teenage daughter with whom Jamie loses his virginity. It's true love until he wakes up in the morning and she's gone.
Marty
Kent's unstable ex-wife who takes Jamie to Santa's Village and pretends to be his mom.