Better Nate Than Ever

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2013

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-8

Chapters 9-14

Chapters 15-20

Chapters 21-31

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapters 15-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 15-17 Summary

This summary section includes Chapter 15: “Learning Lines,” Chapter 16: “Starmites My Life to Oblivion,” and Chapter 17: “A Salsa Crawl Is Not a Dance Move.”

Nate is nervous as he scans the script pages he’s supposed to read. When he enters the audition room once more, he reads the part of Elliott, his younger sister, his older brother, and his mother. The casting crew is especially impressed when Nate demonstrates his knee-walk by sliding across the floor.

Afterward, the casting director compliments Nate. One of the casting crew gives Nate 10 dollars and advises him to buy some deodorant. The casting assistant tells Nate that he needs to stay in town for a few more days, pending another callback. The young actor is ecstatic.

Back out on the street, Nate faces a new set of problems: He’s starving, freezing without a heavy coat, and has nowhere to spend the night. Nate goes to a drugstore called Duane Reade and buys deodorant and a cheap phone charger. Then, he takes a coat from a pile of clothing drive donations. Afterward, he goes to a Mexican restaurant offering free chips and salsa and finds an outlet to charge his phone.

Seated at a table, stuffing himself with chips, Nate can finally make a call to Libby. He’s received many tense voice mail messages from his mother and is afraid to call her directly. Libby informs him that the whole neighborhood is looking for him. Nobody knows where Nate is because Libby blackmailed Anthony into keeping silent about his true whereabouts.

Nate tells Libby that his audition went so well that he needs to stay in town for a few days. She’s delighted but uncertain how much longer she can cover for him. Nate asks her to use her computer to look up the address of Aw Shucks, the seafood restaurant where his Aunt Heidi works.

Chapters 18-20 Summary

This summary section includes Chapter 18: “Accepting Saviors,” Chapter 19: “It Ain’t Texas,” and Chapter 20: “Enter: “Oysters.”

After exiting the restaurant, Nate waits for Libby to call back with directions to Aw Shucks. He wonders why his brother didn’t give away his secret and concludes that there are hidden layers to him; in reality, Libby blackmailed Anthony when she found beer in his bedroom.

Contemplating Anthony causes Nate to think back to their time at a Christian camp three years earlier. For once, Anthony was kind to Nate—at least until the latter embarrassed him by not taking Jesus seriously enough. Nate was beaten up by a group of bullies at the camp who said that “God hates fags” (175). Nate concludes that “Even with God on my side, everyone still hated me” (176). He is startled out of his reverie when Libby calls back and directs him to the neighborhood where Heidi works.

As Nate approaches his destination, he discovers an artsy neighborhood populated by people who fascinate him. He glimpses the open door of a dance club where boys who look like him are dancing and enjoying themselves—“A world where guys who look like me and probably liked the Phantom movie, too, can dance next to other guys who probably liked Phantom and not get threatened or assaulted” (188).

A few minutes later, Nate sees a sign advertising his aunt’s restaurant. Heidi appears with another waiter friend, whom Nate dubs Freckles. Freckles seats Nate and gives him something to drink and some goldfish crackers. Nate discovers that Freckles is also an actor. Freckles reveals that Heidi was a good actress but quit after a particularly bad review. Nate finds himself bonding with Freckles over the ups and downs of acting life.

While Nate excuses himself to go to the bathroom, his aunt charges his phone and receives an unexpected call. When Nate returns, she informs him that the casting crew got in touch to say he is too old to play the role of Elliott.

Chapters 15-20 Analysis

This section examines Nate’s capacity to make himself conspicuous with both positive and negative results. Because of his inexperience with the audition process, Nate doesn’t realize that he doesn’t need to read all the scripted parts given to him, only Elliott’s lines. However, he does such a convincing job with all the other characters that the casting crew is impressed. They are equally impressed by his odd ability to walk across a room on his knees. At the end of his audition, Nate is instructed to stay in town for a few more days for another potential callback. It seems that Nate has found his proper context.

While Nate has distinguished himself positively in New York, he continues to be the focus of negative attention back home. After reviving his phone, he chats with Libby about the drama in Jankburg, where people have sent out search parties for him. Nate is surprised and pleased that anybody cares enough to look for him. He’s also surprised that Anthony didn’t give away his secret. This thought leads Nate to think back to yet another incident of standing out in the wrong way and embarrassing his brother. His disastrous religious conversion at a Christian youth camp earned him a beating from homophobic bullies.

However, a change of context in New York makes all the difference. On his way to Heidi’s restaurant, Nate spies a gay dance club where nobody is getting beaten for being different. He finds an even more welcoming atmosphere at Aw Shucks, when Heidi introduces him to Freckles. All three are aspiring actors, though Heidi vows that she has given up her dream. Freckles is able to understand Nate’s life experience and identify with it, unlike the people in Jankburg. This section ends with Nate’s dream being dashed yet again when he’s informed he’s too old for the part of Elliott.