YMMV / The Suitcase Kid

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • It's mentioned that Katie looks a lot like her late mother, which makes you wonder if part of the reason her father tends to favor her and wrap her in cotton wool is due to her reminding him of his deceased wife.
  • Are Carol and Simon trying to do what’s best for Andy? Or are they just using her as a pawn in their vindictive battle?
• Jerkass Woobie: Katie is a horrible bully, though even Andy feels sorry for her when it's explained that she's terrified of going to sleep because she thinks she won't wake up her like her deceased mother, as she was told her mother "went to sleep" when she died. Katie may be a jerk but she's also a ten year-old girl who lost her mother and clearly has unresolved trauma about it; her father also doesn't help matters by coddling her and not explaining to her what death actually means. She has a breakdown when Andy runs away, thinking that she drove Andy away.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The book's overall plot is pretty timeless, but there are some details that clearly place it in the early 1990s. No one is mentioned owning or using a cellphone, which weren't yet common, including in situations where they'd be useful (such as Carol contacting Simon about Andy being sick before he arrived to pick her up; it also seems likely Andy would have a cellphone in case of emergencies given that she has to make long commutes to and from school by herself). Characters are often mentioned watching movies on video (including Katie hiding horror movie video cassettes in Care Bear boxes). Andy also makes mention of the show Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles; in the UK the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) cartoon was called Hero Turtles when it first aired, due to Moral Guardians feeling the word "ninja" had violent connotations inappropriate for kids.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Carol and Simon are meant to shown as Parents as People, both trying to do what’s best for their daughter but not agreeing how to. But every scene shows them both as petty, vindictive and completely ignoring Andy’s obvious trauma and neglect in favour of catering to their new partners. When they do pay attention to her, it’s to berate her or emotionally manipulate her against each other. To make matters worse, Carol also ignores the problems of her stepchildren and it’s heavily implied that both her and Simon’s divorce was caused by mutual cheating, meaning that their selfishness and lack of faith caused Andy’s problems. Carol's even on the verge of becoming abusive; her vicious scolding of Andy when she comes home very late after losing Radish is meant to be Anger Born of Worry, but she moves right to smacking Andy hard across the face, and then bursting into tears in a prime example of Why Did You Make Me Hit You? And neither of them learn anything from the experience, even after Andy runs away to their old house.
• The Woobie:
  • Andy West. She's a young girl stuck in the middle of her parents' bitter divorce. She doesn't feel she belongs in either of her parents' homes and wants more than anything for things to go back the way they were. Almost no one treats her with much sympathy and she's expected to just 'get over' her parents' break-up because "lots of people get divorced" (as if that makes it any easier). She gets bullied by her stepsister and is always assumed to be the instigator of their fights. Her best friend has grown distant from her, her parents care more about their feelings than her's, and she doesn't really have anyone to talk to and support her. Her situation does get better by the end, but it’s still less than ideal.
  • Graham is easy to feel sorry for. He's a shy, awkward boy whose mother is dead and whose father belittles him for not acting like a "real boy". He spends most of his time holed up in his room to avoid his family's arguing and judgement.

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