A High Five for Glenn Burke

Zoey is Silas’s best friend. She is very smart and does all the coding for her robotics team. Silas understands The Importance of Friendship and relies on her for support. Zoey feels overwhelmed by Silas’s coming out, especially since she does not like being the only person who knows. Zoey is supportive of Silas when he first comes out, but she does not always know how to navigate what Silas is feeling. She does not understand Silas’s fear that other people will learn that he is gay or why Silas will not tell Grace, since she believes that Grace would not have an issue with Silas being gay.

One of the novel’s major points of conflict is when Zoey learns that Silas has told his baseball team that they are dating and ends the friendship. Although she is initially very angry, she does reconcile with Silas when he apologizes. She demonstrates a lot of maturity for her age in this moment. She even suggests that it was she who was the bad friend and apologizes to Silas for not being completely there for him when he came out to her.

Though the two friends go through a lot over the course of the book, Zoey’s friendship is one of Silas’s primary sources of stability and support. His life spirals out of control when he loses her. Mending their friendship is the final step that Silas must take in order to complete his journey of Self-Acceptance and Coming of Age.

Coach Webb is one of Silas’s baseball coaches. He is new to the role of head coach. He takes his position in stride and is a good role model for the boys, especially for Silas. Webb always encourages his players to be their best selves, both as baseball players and as people in general. Webb is the second person Silas chooses to come out to, demonstrating the immense trust that Silas places in him.

Webb has strong principles that he sticks to in the face of conflict. When Coach Noles tries to stop him from discussing anti-gay sentiments on the team, Webb forges ahead instead of bowing to pressure.

Webb is never anything but supportive of Silas. Sometimes, Silas feels like his support is too much, like when Webb bans the Renegades from using the word gay as an insult. Silas worries that this will make his teammates realize that he is gay, and he regrets revealing his secret to Webb. However, Webb’s unwavering support ultimately helps Silas accept himself. Webb shows Silas that the world of baseball is changing to be more accepting of gay players and encourages him to always be his authentic self. He also reminds Silas that he should not underestimate the people in his life, including his parents, his friends, and his teammates. It is this advice that eventually helps Silas to stop worrying that people will find out about him.

While he is not ready to be openly gay, Webb has demonstrated the ideal reaction that someone can have to a child’s coming out. This helps Silas feel less afraid about what will happen in the future when he is eventually ready to tell people that he is gay.

Silas’s family consists of his mother Erica; his father Gil; and his two sisters, Haley and Semaj. Their lives are busy and chaotic. Haley is a few years younger than Silas and is obsessed with gymnastics. She often does gymnastics in the house to distract their parents from their fights. Semaj is four and needs a lot of special attention. Her name is “James” backwards, as her parents expected her to be a boy. Erica sometimes asks Silas for extra help taking care of Semaj, which he resents when he is having a hard time in his personal life.

Erica runs a coffee shop, and Gil is an accountant with a boss who works him too hard; both parents have a difficult time balancing their careers while taking care of their three children. They often have miscommunications about picking their kids up from school or activities; Silas remarks that they hardly ever seem to talk about anything except work and who is picking up who. Though they are sometimes absent or busy, Silas’s parents ultimately care a great deal about their son and support him when he is struggling. Although neither Erica nor Gil ever learns what Silas is really going through, they both demonstrate that they are loving parents who will support their kids no matter what.

Ms. Washington is Silas and Zoey’s English Language Arts teacher. In addition to being a middle school teacher, she directs high school theater shows and stars in local theater productions. Like Coach Webb, Ms. Washington is an example of a positive adult figure in Silas’s life. Although he never comes out to her, Ms. Washington is one of the adults who encourages Silas to be authentic. She also puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of seeking out and fighting for the truth.

Although Silas does not notice it, Ms. Washington gives him the opportunity to come out when she furthers the class discussion about Glenn Burke, implying that she suspects he is gay. When Silas does not take this opportunity, Ms. Washington chooses not to reveal to the class that Burke was gay, sensing that Silas does not want the class to know. Her actions in this moment are a positive example of how an adult can react if they sense that a child is not ready to come out. She makes the right decision not to force the subject, allowing Silas to come out in his own time.