The Best of Iggy

Iggy Frangi is the protagonist and antihero of The Best of Iggy. He is a mischievous nine-year-old, illustrated with curly dark hair, freckles, and a striped shirt. The narrator establishes that Iggy is poorly behaved in Chapter 1, noting that “all the things [Iggy] does (in this book) are bad. Every last one of them” (9).

Iggy is often irreverent and a bit wild. In Chapter 4, he bursts into laughter when his mom mentions the Dutch Baby, spitting food everywhere. Later, he sings a song about pee and jumps off the roof with his skateboard. He contrasts sharply with Jeremy Greerson, who is well behaved and polite. Iggy is jealous of Jeremy and lies to seem cool in Jeremy’s eyes: “I do it all the time” (31), he claims about skateboarding off the shed roof. Despite his antics, Iggy has good intentions. He tries to prevent Jeremy from jumping off the roof himself, knowing it’s dangerous.

As a nine-year-old, Iggy grapples with The Challenges of Growing Up, which are often tied to Conflict in Friendship and Family Relationships. He wants to be free to do as he likes, and when his sister Maribel and her friend Haley are tasked with watching him, Iggy is upset: “Did it mean they were going to tell him what to do?” (41).