Squeaky feels like her mother is disappointed that she does not act like a girl.

Squeaky is really more of a tomboy. She does not participate in the Mayday activities that most girls her age find enjoyable. Squeaky, favoring running instead, seems to think her mother is disappointed.

The biggest thing on the program is the May Pole dancing, which I can do without, thank you, even if my mother thinks it’s a shame I don’t take part and act like a girl for a change.

Squeaky feels like her mother does not really understand her. All she wants to do is run. When she trains for running, she looks silly, and her mother pretends she doesn’t know her. Squeaky says she is okay with this, but the reader can tell she is a little hurt. When she describes the May Pole dancing, the reader can also tell that Squeaky feels that she has disappointed her mother by not acting more like a girl.

Squeaky is frustrated by her mother’s efforts to make her into something she is not. Running is something she is passionate about. She wants her mother to see that in her.

You’d think they’d know better than to encourage that kind of nonsense. I am not a strawberry. I do not dance on my toes. I run. That is what I am all about.

Squeaky is proud of who she is. When Mr. Pearson calls her Squeaky, she uses her real name. She wants to run the race with her full name. It is her way of showing everybody who she is, and telling them that she is proud of it.  She knows that she will win the race. She is being who she is.

This is a story about identity, and finding one’s voice.  Squeaky feels held back by responsibility and isolated, but when she realizes that she can find common ground with Gretchen and with Raymond, she breaks free. Running is what she loves, and finding two people who love it too liberates her. She is no longer worried about acting like a girl.