Theories of Relativity

Dylan is the 16-year-old protagonist of Theories of Relativity, and his first-person narration provides insight into his thoughts and feelings throughout the novel. Many of Dylan’s insights are filtered through the fact that he is still a teenage boy despite his circumstances. Dylan is bright and has an interest in computers, architecture, and science. Physically, Dylan is tall and lanky with dark curly hair that mats easily when he is unable to shower. His closest friends are his two younger brothers, Micha and Jordan, whom Dylan feels responsible for due to his mother’s irresponsible and careless parenting. Because of his upbringing, Dylan has not had much of a chance to make friends in school. His family has always moved from place to place, forcing Dylan to change schools regularly. Dylan feels as though he’s never able to establish himself anywhere because of this instability. Dylan feels a lot of resentment toward his mom, which only grows as the novel progresses, especially once he finds out that she hid his grandfather’s letters to him.

At the beginning of the novel, Dylan is only a few weeks removed from being kicked out of his home. He does not fully see himself as one of the street kids and looks down on people like Amber and Twitch for their sex work and drug use.