26 pages • 52 minutes read
Freckle Juice
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Andrew Marcus
Andrew Marcus is a second-grader and the protagonist of the story. He desperately wants freckles, just like his classmate Nicky Lane. Andrew daydreams often, gets distracted easily, and like most kids, often worries about being embarrassed at school. At the beginning of the story, when his reading group giggles at his inattention, he becomes flustered and wonders “why [...] Miss Kelly ha[d] to pick him” (8) to read out loud when he wasn’t ready. Andrew wants to do well, and he becomes defensive when he makes a mistake.
Andrew has an active imagination. He daydreams about how different his life would be if he had freckles, and even when he insists that he doesn’t believe Sharon’s claims about the freckle juice, he still wonders if she might be telling the truth. When he opens up the recipe and finds that it is made up of ordinary household groceries, he still pushes aside his doubt, prepares the beverage, and drinks it. Andrew is an optimist, and even when he consumes the terrible freckle juice, he crawls to the mirror to watch his transformation. Despite seeing many obvious red flags that the recipe is a fake, Andrew holds onto hope until he can’t deny the truth anymore. He is so hyper-fixated on freckles that nothing will stop him from doing everything to get them. In this sense, Andrew shows a penchant for determination and focus, especially when it comes to something he is passionate about.
Andrew also has a proud streak: when he mixes up the freckle juice, and it tastes terrible, he thinks that “[Sharon] probably thought he wouldn’t be able to drink it” (26). This thought angers him, and he decides to prove the Sharon in his head wrong: “He’d drink it all right!” (26). He hates the idea that he paid for a fake recipe, and when the freckle juice doesn’t work, he can’t stand the thought of having to go back to school and face Sharon. Andrew hates to be laughed at, so his decision to cover himself in blue freckles is surprising. His blue freckles yield plenty of giggles, much more than he would have gotten from Sharon if he had just come to school without any freckles.
Andrew’s mother says that he is usually very “sensible,” and he tries to be responsible and stay out of trouble. His mother trusts him enough to leave him alone at home for an hour, and he also shows a sense of financial responsibility. Andrew has a habit of saving his allowance instead of spending it immediately. He had five weeks’ worth of allowance saved up and ready to use, and although he shows a lapse in judgment when he spends it on the freckle juice recipe, the reader is led to believe that this is out of character for him.
But Andrew’s most prominent character trait in Freckle Juice is his deep dissatisfaction with the way he looks. Andrew wants what he can’t have: freckles. Because he doesn’t look like Nicky, he has a poor sense of self-image. Throughout the story, Andrew learns to come to terms with his low self-esteem and how it relates to his physical appearance and other character flaws. Andrew is a good kid who just wants to do well and please the adults in his life, and once he learns to accept himself the way he is, his life might become much easier.
Sharon
Sharon is one of Andrew’s classmates and the antagonist of the story. Andrew and Sharon don’t get along before the events in Freckle Juice: He declares that “He couldn’t stand that Sharon” (8) because she is a know-it-all who likes to laugh at him. Sharon is cunning, mischievous, and manipulative. She lies to both Andrew and Nicky about what her secret recipes can do, and she twists the truth to swindle her classmates out of their money.
After consuming the freckle juice and becoming sick, Andrew laments that “he hate[s] Sharon. She’d done it on purpose. Just to get his fifty cents!” (30). Andrew knows what kind of trickery Sharon is capable of. The two already didn’t get along. Although Sharon was wrong to trick Andrew, he should have considered their rocky history before giving his trust to someone that he obviously didn’t like and who didn’t like him.
Andrew fixates on Sharon’s tongue and how she runs it across her teeth and wiggles it around when she talks. In fact, “Sharon’s tongue remind[s] Andrew of a frog catching flies” (10). Just like a frog waving its tongue in the air to try to catch flies, Sharon uses her words to entrap unsuspecting victims. She lies about having a secret recipe, why she has (or doesn’t have) freckles, and tries to make money off her classmates. Aside from swindling people out of their money, Sharon takes pleasure in successfully deceiving others. She wants to be the one to have the last laugh, and when the freckle juice recipe turns out to be a dud, Andrew decides that Sharon “[isn’t] going to get the chance to laugh at him. No sir!” (30). Andrew knows that this is what Sharon wanted all along. Making money off of him might have added insult to injury, but Sharon wanted to see the aftermath of what she had done: no freckles and a sick Andrew.
Mrs. Marcus (Andrew’s Mom)
Mrs. Marcus is Andrew’s no-nonsense mother and the only other member of his family mentioned in the story. Andrew complains that his mother always checks his neck and ears in the mornings to make sure he is clean before he goes to school. Although this bothers Andrew because he says that it makes him late to school every morning, this shows that his mother cares about him. She wants him to be clean, healthy, and safe. Although his mother can come across as abrasive or nagging, she is only concerned with doing what is best for her son.
Andrew’s mother gives him clear instructions to follow, and when he disobeys her, she immediately flies into a panic. She declares that “[Andrew] must have appendicitis” (29), and she frets about whether to call the doctor, drive him to the hospital, or call an ambulance. Her immediate worry for her child reminds the reader that Mrs. Marcus loves her son and is terrified of the thought of something bad happening to him, and she is genuinely worried instead of downplaying his illness.
She expects obedience from her son, and when she discovers that he disobeyed her and made the freckle juice mess in the kitchen, she expresses her disappointment firmly. Even so, she quickly shifts gears from scolding him to nursing him back to health. She gives him medicine, tucks him into bed, and keeps him home from school. Mrs. Marcus could have demanded more of an explanation from Andrew, but instead, she focuses on getting him back on his feet.
When Andrew resists going back to school after recovering from his illness, she is once again firm with her expectations. She warns him that if he doesn’t hurry up and get ready for school, “[he’s] going to take three baths a day every day for the next ten years!” (32). Andrew knows better than to challenge his mother, and although he obeys, he doesn’t come clean with her about what happened with the freckle juice or why he felt the need to change his appearance.
Miss Kelly
Miss Kelly is Andrew’s second-grade teacher who teaches him a valuable lesson about self-acceptance. Like Andrew’s mother, Miss Kelly has high expectations for her students, but she also has compassion and discretion when the situation calls for them.
At the story’s beginning, Miss Kelly is seen gently but firmly guiding Andrew to join his reading group because everyone is waiting for him. When Andrew falls out of his desk trying to get the freckle juice recipe off the floor, everyone laughs except for Andrew and Miss Kelly. She says, “Oh Andrew! What are you up to now?” (18), which hints that Andrew has a history of unusual shenanigans in the classroom.
Still, Miss Kelly is patient and understanding. She does confiscate the freckle juice recipe, but she returns it because she reads it and “[has] the feeling it’s important to [him]” (18). Still, she reminds him that this cannot happen again, and he must pay attention in class from now on. Andrew decides that this is reasonable, and he thinks of all the ways Miss Kelly could have punished him instead: “She could have ripped up the recipe. Or sent him to the principal’s office. Or even made him stand out in the hall by himself” (18). Instead, she corrects him gently and asks him to do better in the future. Miss Kelly believes in second chances, and she genuinely cares about her students.
When Andrew comes to school covered in blue freckles, Miss Kelly decides not to embarrass him. Instead, she gently gives him the chance to remove his freckles. She recognizes that Andrew has been struggling with his self-esteem. She uses this opportunity to compliment his appearance and remind him that he looks just fine the way he is. Miss Kelly is gentle, patient, and a key character on Andrew’s journey to self-acceptance.
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