Character Analysis
We're not fans of the name.
Joe's a neighborhood guy with Down Syndrome. The boys know him well, but he's not part of their group. It's unclear how old he is, but he's older than the narrators. The narrators describe him as:
"[. . .] wearing his baggy Bermuda shorts and his blue baseball cap, and as usual he was grinning with the face he shared with every other mongoloid, [. . .] with his oversize jaw and loose lips, his tiny Japanese eyes, his smooth cheeks shaved by his brothers." (1.45)
The boys find him useful at Cecilia's party to break the ice. They show the Lisbon girls all the tricks he can do and the songs he knows. He doesn't realize he's being treated like the family pet.