Shelly Huffman Character Analysis

Shelly Huffman is a student in Eli’s year at Nashville State High School. She was recently diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, and the school is fundraising to buy her family a wheelchair-friendly van and outfit their home with ramps and other mobility aids. Shelly has a cutting sense of humor about everything, particularly about her diagnosis: when the school’s fundraising efforts stall at a couple thousand dollars, she jokes that they’ve raised “half a ramp.” She also acts unbothered when, for instance, her family goes places without her, like the beach. Both Eli and August like Shelly, possibly in romantic ways. August shares with Shelly Eli’s plan to sneak into prison and see Mum, and Eli considers staying with Shelly for an afternoon instead of carrying out that plan. Eli thinks often of Shelly when he considers how unfair life is. Ultimately, when it becomes clear that Mum doesn’t want to use Lyle’s drug money to buy a nice house, August donates the money to Shelly’s family, which allows the school to meet its fundraising goal. It’s unclear if Shelly ever discovers who donated the money.