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The Mac is a positive influence in Nick’s life, not as a librarian, but as a father figure. For example, the Mac visited Nick on page 225 at the hospital and brought him KFC. He also read him a book on page 230. Nick says he “Didn’t think you were gonna like this book.” When Nick was lingering around whether he was going to start reading books or not, The Mac gave him the final push he needed. Earlier in the story, before Nick found his love for books, The Mac showed Nick that reading can be a good thing when he handed him a book about Pele on page 79, “Maybe, he says, then nudges you out the library, before you realize he’s put a book in your hands. ARGGH!” Even though Nick was annoyed, he would later read the book and be thankful. This relates to The Mac being a father figure since The Mac gave him healthy habits that he could enjoy, like reading books, that his dad couldn’t give him. When the reader thinks about the Mac, they can infer that he is a positive influence in Nick's life as a potential father figure.

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Nick’s parents don’t pay ENOUGH attention to his emotions. An example of this is on page 213 when it says,” Then Dad starts telling her it’s not her fault and now he’s sorry for not paying off attention to her.” This quote goes to show how Nick’s parents are not paying attention to him and his dad cares more for his mom than his son. Another example of this is on page 267 when it says,” We’re sorry, honey. Yeah, me too. Sorry some horse’s needs are more important than mine.” The reason that he is saying this is because above that, Nick’s parents told him that they are getting a divorce without them talking to Nick about it.

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Nick’s mom leaving is really affecting/and taking a toll on Nick’s life. On page 157, “You miss” it is about all the things he misses when his mom was living with him and his dad, like her cheering at matches, late Ping-Pong nights, and family hugs after family meetings and how he wish she was still around. And on page 273, in the poem it says, “I feel like I’m drowning.” Nick is with his therapist after his mom left for her work again and he’s like talking about how he’s drowning and he feels like he can’t do anything about and doesn’t know how to save himself. This proves how much Nick’s mom means to him and how close they are/were.

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Kwame Alexander uses figurative language, specifically metaphors, to help the reader truly understand how Nick is feeling. One example of this is on, “Thought”, on page 59 which states, “It does not take a math genius to understand that when you subract a mother from the equation what remains is negative.” This metaphor, that Kwame uses,is extremely useful, truly enabling the reader to understand how devastated Nick is. Another example of this is on page 268, “What Happens to a Dream Destroyed?”, where it says, “Does it sink like a wreck ship in the sea? Or wade in the water like a boy overboard? Maybe it just floats around…or does it drown?” In this Kwame is comparing Nick’s dream to a ship drowning, showing how devastated he is. This is another example of Kwame using metaphors to describe Nick’s thoughts and feelings which helps the reader feel it too!

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Nick’s parents relationship is a very complicated relationship that’s very on and off. For example, on page 57-58, in the poem No Heads-up, his mom says, “Nicky, your father and i and separating.” This hits nick hard and he has a lot of troubling coping with it. On page 61 it says, “you can’t sleep your head aches your stomach’s a wreck” he has to work through this however, later in the story he gets hit with more bad news. When nick is in the hospital, Coby comes in and says this, “I saw you mom and dad in the lobby. Yeah they never leave. It’s annoying. I think they were arguing.” Hearing that his parents were arguing even though he was hurt, was also hurting his hope that his parents would get back together. But soon enough of page 265, in the poem later at dinner kwame writes this, “we all laugh and it feels like love it back, like home again, just like its supposed to feel.” Nicks hope it full to the top, he is for sure certain that everything is back to normal and going well again. However one day later, he gets jut with more bad news that shatters him, “Nicholas, your mother and I have decided to get a divorce. A DIVORCE? But, I thought, uh, I just… I, we— I was afraid of this, dad says to mom. Afraid of WHAT, that I would think you two would get your life together and not ruin mine again?” Nick is acting out in anger because of how much his parents relationship is going on and off and off for the last time.

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Nick separating from his mom hits him hard due to how much Nick relies on her. In the poem on page 157, “You miss”, Nick is talking about how much he misses his mom. How he misses her cooking, her cheering, her playing ping pong with him, and basically everything about her.  Nick’s mom was basically his outlet whenever something was stressful in his life. How she was a highlight in his day. Page 59 , in the poem thought, he says “…When you subtract a mother from the equation what remains is negative.”. Nick had already predicted that he would fall to pieces and be really sad after his mom is gone, and that just shows how strong of a relationship they have.

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April and Ms. Hardwick are finally getting Nick to realize that he can use books as an outlet. Both characters are suggesting that he can use books to relate to others' experiences. For example on page 222 the poem 'All the Broken Pieces,' Kwame states, “All the broke pieces is about war told by a boy your age who can’t find piece after a bomb.” Although he wasn’t effected by a bomb he was effected by the fact that he can’t find peace in his life and the bomb may represent the challenges in his life. Also on page 227 they refer to a different book which says “His classmates call him names like frog face and Matt the rat and rice-paddy.” He can relate to this because he was called bad names by Dean and Don and reading about another experience can help him relate and process his experiences. April and Ms. Hardwick are trying to help Nick realize that using books as an outlet can really help him.