My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich

Ebony-Grace is the narrator and main character of the story. She’s also the protagonist and hero who the reader is meant to root for. Due to her Granddaddy, Ebony-Grace has a head full of science fiction drama. She’s obsessed with outer space and movies and TV shows that take place in other worlds and galaxies, like Star Trek and Star Wars. Her infatuation doesn’t shame her, and she acts out the outer space narrative in public in front of Bianca, the Nine Flavas Crew, and her family. Her unabashed embrace of the stories annoys and perplexes the other characters and perhaps the reader. Even Granddaddy gets embarrassed: When she visits him at work and identifies herself as Cadet E-Grace Starfleet, he replies, “Shhh! Not here, Cadet Starfleet. This is the last place we want anybody to find out about our secret mission” (111). Wherever she goes, she wants to impose her imagination because it helps her cope with the people and circumstances of her life. In the story, she must learn to manage her imagination and get along better in reality.

Ebony-Grace has glasses, and she wears clothes that reflect her interests in space and superheroes.