Roll With It

Ellie Cowan, the protagonist and narrator, is a 12-year-old girl who loves to bake and play miniature golf. Originally named Lily, Ellie was unable to fully pronounce the name Lily when she was younger, in part due to her cerebral palsy diagnosis. As a result, she goes by Ellie and takes this nickname as part of her identity into adolescence. Ellie uses a wheelchair and lives with her mom, Alice, who cares for Ellie by herself. Residing in Nashville, Tennessee at the beginning of the novel, readers see Ellie struggle with Finding Belonging With Family and Friends. She views herself as “other” or “different” from the students without disabilities who attend her school. This is illustrated in the following statement: “I get tired of bearing witness to everyone else’s normal” (7). Her sense of “bearing witness” signals that she is at the beginning of her character arc in which she will enact events as the protagonist and not simply “witness” them. She also wants independence and struggles to accept the help of her assigned school aide. Her strong relationship with her mother and maternal grandparents contrasts with her struggle for belonging in school.