Character Analysis
Nola is a sick ten-year-old whom Bart befriends during his community service at a local hospital. She's also secretly Tyro's sister, though we don't learn this until Bart runs into the Bergens when he tries to visit her on her deathbed. Whoa.
Nola's presence in the book is slight; she's introduced in Chapter 10 and she's dead by the end of Chapter 13. Still, though, she's an important person in Bart's life. For whatever reason, he's able to open up to Nola immediately, telling her his most painful secret—you know, that his dad ditched his family six months before his death. After Nola dies, her friendship continues to help Bart grow as a person and he's finally able to talk to his mom about his father's death.