Tell Me Three Things

Sixteen-year-old Jessie Holmes is the narrator and protagonist of the novel, providing readers with a first-hand account of the trials and victories she experiences as a junior in high school. Her father remarries about two years after her mother dies of ovarian cancer, and the upheaval of leaving behind her childhood home of middle-class Chicago and relocating to the wealthy, glitzy “Valley” of LA takes a toll on Jessie’s well-being. Starting over socially at Wood Valley High is an intimidating undertaking, especially for someone who feels out of place and is already carrying the burden of grief. She counts the days since her mother died as a coping mechanism, and as soon as she arrives, starts to count the days until she graduates Wood Valley.

After interacting with Somebody Nobody (SN), Jessie admits that she is “better writing than [she] talking in person,” and feels like she can be more authentic and honest online (82). She is a considerate and kind friend, but she is often riddled with self-doubt and anxiety, thinking that: “in the Venn diagram of [her] life, [her] imagined personality and [her] real personality have never converged” (7). By the end of the novel, however, she comes to realize that as lonely and helpless as she felt when left to her own devices, she was ultimately able to figure out a way to move forward with, and make the best of, her new life—something that required much more strength and self-assurance than she first realized.