When Billy Miller looks in the mirror, what do you think he sees? The Year of Billy Miller is about Billy Miller figuring out who exactly he is now that he's in second grade, which means we find Billy thinking about his identity an awful lot in this book. Sometimes all this has Billy realizing that he can change, but other times Billy feels like his identity just is what it is, and that's that. Whichever road this dude takes, there's one thing that's for sure: He makes some pretty major discoveries about himself along the way.
Questions About Identity
- How does Billy define himself? What about the other characters? Do all the characters think about their identities?
- How are identities impacted by the rest of the society? Can family and friends impact Billy's identity? And can identities in this book ever be completely independent?
- What happens when someone's identity shifts in this book? Are these changes a good thing or a bad thing?
Chew on This
Identity is solid as stone. In The Year of Billy Miller, Billy keeps his identity on the straight and narrow, making sure he never changes.
Identity is as fluid as the sea. In The Year of Billy Miller, Billy's sense of self changes a ton with each new experience he has.