Bluefish

The protagonist of Bluefish, Travis, and his best friend, Velveeta, both come from working-class families, and their economic status impacts their academic opportunities and performance in various ways. Travis and Velveeta are on the school’s free lunch program, which means they receive free meals from school each day. This may sound positive, but the meals they receive are not nutritious and leave them feeling malnourished, distracted, and sometimes irritable—in short, their academic performance is somewhat hindered due to their lack of proper nutrition. Travis and Velveeta must also go without certain material things that would make their academic performance easier. For example, Travis’s shoes are old and worn-out, and although shoes are not technically a school supply or an academic tool, being physically uncomfortable can impede one’s academic performance. Moreover, children are frequently bullied at school based on their clothes, and being bullied can also impede academic performance because it makes kids feel unsafe and distracted. Velveeta does not have the required school supplies because her mom didn’t buy them for her. It’s unclear if she couldn’t afford them or if she simply forgot, but in either case, this clearly prevents Velveeta from performing at her best.

Travis and Velveeta also receive less encouragement from their families than other students, like their upper-middle-class friend Bradley. Velveeta’s mother has never attended parent-teacher conferences, and Travis’s Grandpa, who is his guardian, does so for the first time toward the end of the novel. Travis’s and Velveeta’s guardians don’t ask them about homework, which results in both students neglecting to do their assignments. Bluefish suggests that students from working-class backgrounds face additional challenges at school, but importantly, the novel does not suggest that working-class students cannot succeed just as well as upper-class students. Travis and Velveeta both ultimately succeed academically through self-motivation, friendship, and the help of adults outside their family (such as teachers and librarians).