Fake Skating

The novel explores the complicated process of building and rebuilding identity during adolescence. For Dani, curating her identity becomes a form of self-preservation. Her years of moving to new schools have taught her that the only way to survive in unfamiliar social environments is to blend in. In her mind, “the awfulness that came with being forgotten felt ten times worse than the discomfort of assimilation” (199). When she arrives at Southview, she follows this same isolating rule, keeping to herself, avoiding attention, and blending into the background to prevent people from misunderstanding her or leaving her behind. Invisibility becomes her armor, but she eventually realizes that she has built an identity around smallness rather than embracing and exhibiting her true personality.

As Dani grows and changes at Southview, her friendships play a crucial role in shaping her new identity. After years of dealing with “mean girls” and the cruelty of students who target the new arrival, she has convinced herself that she does not need friends, especially not other girls. Painter uses this mindset to show how isolation can become woven into a person’s identity when their trust has been repeatedly broken. Yet the