43 pages • 1 hour read
Kayla MillerClick
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Tension Between Conformity and Individuality
In Click, the protagonist, Olive, navigates the complex social dynamics of middle school and attempts to reconcile the universal struggle of choosing whether to express her individuality or focus on fitting in with her friends. Through Olive’s journey, Kayla Miller explores the pressures of social conformity, the pain of exclusion, and ultimately, the empowerment found in embracing one’s uniqueness. Over the course of the graphic novel, Olive evolves from a need to seek external acceptance and instead works on discovering and showcasing her individual strengths, thereby carving her own niche in a complex social world.
At the outset, Olive is a well-adjusted, happy fifth-grader with numerous friends and interests. Her interactions are depicted in a cheerful, vibrant manner, and Miller employs several impressionistic, dialogue-free montages to show Olive moving fluidly and happily through her many social circles. These illustrations show her engaging actively with peers, smiling and laughing frequently, and the many positive images indicate an effortless sense of belonging. However, the announcement of the school variety show triggers a seismic shift in Olive’s social landscape, and as her friends form new groups to prepare their acts, Olive finds herself left on the outside. This development represents a stark departure from the inclusion that she usually enjoys.
This awkward period of exclusion marks the beginning of Olive’s internal identity crisis. Her initial reaction to her friends’ shift in behavior is a combination of confusion and dejection as she wonders why none of her friends thought to include her. The illustrations capture Olive’s sense of alienation, following her glum expression through the same group interactions that just a day earlier had been comfortable and joyful. Olive’s yearning to be included combines with her inability to directly ask anyone to join, and as a result, she is left feeling helpless, stuck, and isolated.
Olive’s interactions with her family, especially her Aunt Molly, advance her emotional development and introduce her to different attitudes on The Tension Between Conformity and Individuality. Aunt Molly’s unconventional approach to life and her own experiences with feeling out of place provide Olive with a different perspective that helps her to decide what is truly important to her. Aunt Molly’s anecdote about performing a solo act in her school talent show despite its lack of popularity resonates deeply with Olive, and she begins to think of ways to showcase her own individuality. Aunt Molly introduces Olive to the idea that she does not have to fit into a predefined group in order to participate in the variety show. Olive’s mom, on the other hand, holds the opposite viewpoint and believes in the value of fitting in. She once participated in a group act during her own school variety show and now worries that Aunt Molly has pressured Olive into choosing a path that will alienate her from her friends.
The dream sequence in which Olive joins and then rejects various groups signifies a turning point in her self-awareness, for the dream forces her to recognize that she subconsciously grapples with the external pressures to conform. Even though she wants to be included in these groups and feels lonely and ashamed when her friends form groups without her, she finally realizes that joining a specific group is not the solution to her identity crisis. At the end of the dream sequence, Olive is finally able to articulate the fact that she doesn’t want to choose at all. Thus, Olive’s decision to host the variety show represents her decision to embrace her individuality. This role allows her to interact with her friends without having to compromise her identity. The support from Aunt Molly and, eventually, from her mother, also reinforces the importance of familial encouragement in an adolescent’s attempts to navigate new social challenges.
Throughout the preparation for the variety show, Olive’s role as the host enables her to bridge the divide between the various social groups, and she turns her initial exclusion into an opportunity for inclusivity. Her enthusiasm and dedication to this role transform her from a passive participant in her social world to an active creator of her own space. This shift is visually represented by Olive’s increasing confidence and the positive reception from her peers, who appreciate her efforts to support their acts. Counterintuitively, by respecting her own sense of individuality, Olive experiences a stronger sense of belonging.
Ultimately, Kayla Miller’s Click explores the tension between fitting in and being an individual, and Olive’s experiences with navigating social groups and establishing her own identity serve as a primer for those who are confronting similar social difficulties. The rhythm of the narrative is supported by expressive illustrations that convey the emotional highs and lows of this adolescent journey. Olive’s success as the variety show host underscores the theme that true belonging comes not from conforming to others’ expectations but from embracing and expressing one’s unique identity. Miller’s story therefore serves as an reminder that individuality should be celebrated, especially in the formative years of adolescence.
Learning How to Navigate Cliques
One of the central themes running through Click is the social challenge of learning to navigate cliques. Through Olive’s story, Miller explores the intricacies of group interactions and the journey toward finding one’s own space within a social environment. As Olive watches cliques form around her, she worries about joining them and develops her own social strategies. As the protagonist undergoes these shifts, Miller illustrates several ways to explore the common social challenge of cliques, providing practical, real-world advice in story form.
In the beginning of the story, Olive moves freely between groups and does not perceive that they are separate entities at all. The artwork of the story reflects this worldview, for Miller designs panels representing her day at school, using visual elements that blend together into a single sequence without clear narrative distinctions. Olive sees these different groups as part of her holistic social life and doesn’t feel any isolation in that arrangement. However, as soon as Mr. Florez announces the variety show, Olive notices a distinct change when specialized groups start forming around the various acts that will appear in the show. Olive immediately feels awkward and left out, and the social landscape has shifted so quickly that she cannot even articulate what has happened. She struggles to understand why she is not invited to join any of the groups despite the fact that she has friends in each of them. Unlike many portrayals of cliques in middle-grade literature, Miller’s vision portrays them as being casually constructed and innocuous, rather than being based in a sense of deliberate exclusion. None of Olive’s friends maliciously exclude her or take joy in making her feel bad. In fact, none of Olive’s friends notice how excluded she feels. Their position demonstrates that just as it is challenging to navigate exclusion, it can also be challenging to perceive the inadvertent harm caused when groups form. Miller uses the variety show to dramatize the formation of cliques and analyze the resulting shifts in social dynamics. The artwork aids in this process considerably, as the clothing and costumes help to visually differentiate the different cliques from each other.
To mitigate Olive’s confusion, Aunt Molly tells Olive about the concept of cliques and explains that they are a neutral social phenomenon with both positive and negative aspects. She explains that cliques form over common interests and can be a way for people to find like-minded friends. She also explains that it is normal not to have a defined social role in middle school, as there is still plenty of time to figure out one’s approach to social dynamics. Olive’s worry about her social position manifests in the dream sequence that shows her “clicking” with various social groups and transforming her clothing to match these groups. Here, Miller builds on the variety show conceit, using the clothing to emphasize Olive’s belief that participating in any clique means conforming and giving up an element of her identity. None of this conformity feels right to Olive, and she awakes from the dream understanding that she does not want to choose any one clique to define her.
Hosting symbolizes a new way for Olive to interact with cliques. By using old television variety shows as a model for group dynamics, Olive realizes that there is a defined social function for somebody who floats between groups. Rather than seeing the groups as exclusive, Olive now sees a way that she can encourage each group to do their best. As Olive prepares for the variety show, her role as host becomes a unifying force among her friends. She bridges the gaps between different cliques, turning her initial exclusion into an opportunity for inclusivity. Olive’s dedication to her hosting role transforms her from a passive participant in the social hierarchy to an active agent who facilitates connections between diverse groups. At the end of the story, Olive smiles confidently in front of the spotlight, ready to host the show. This visual represents the culmination of her journey as she learns that it is more fitting for her to step into the spotlight as an individual rather than as a member of any one clique.
The Interplay of Maturity and Autonomy
As Olive navigates the challenges of middle-school social dynamics and the pressure of the school’s variety show, she discovers new ways to assert her autonomy in her relationships with her friends and her family, and she also develops a more distinctive sense of who she really is. As Olive grapples with the challenge of gaining maturity and finding autonomy, Miller uses a strategic combination of art and dialogue to highlight Olive’s evolution from dependence on others to a more self-reliant approach to life.
At the beginning of the story, Olive’s interactions with her friends and her excitement for the variety show depict her as a typical middle-school student who is eager to participate and be included. Olive’s reliance on her friends is clear as she assumes that she will naturally be included in one of the new cliques. Her initial expectation of being included without any effort on her part illustrates the degree of her social dependence. Likewise, the shock of finding herself inadvertently excluded from these groups serves as a catalyst for her journey toward maturity.
Olive’s reaction to this exclusion—wandering from group to group and feeling hurt that no one thought to include her—highlights her immaturity as the story starts. At this point, Olive does not yet have the tools or insight to actively change her situation for the better, so she remains passive, waiting for others to invite her rather than taking initiative. Olive also adopts a much more passive communication style during this period in the story. Rather than explicitly stating how she feels or asking anyone directly if she can join them, she sulks and withdraws, relinquishing control in even her more inconsequential social interactions. She wants her friends to notice that she feels sad and excluded, but she doesn’t feel comfortable telling them outright, and when her mom asks her why she doesn’t speak to her friends directly, she worries that she will seem like a “dork.” Even as she refuses to communicate with her friends, she imagines that they will judge her harshly and assign her a cruel social label. Thus, even in this imaginary scenario, Olive is allowing others to define her identity and social role. As a result, she feels stuck, waiting to be included but refusing to take any steps toward a solution.
Olive’s mom tries to intervene multiple times, offering to ask some of the other parents if Olive could join one of their groups. Olive is immediately resistant to this idea. Olive senses that she knows more about the social dynamic than her mom does, and she realizes that giving her mom control of the situation might now actually prevent the kind of inclusion that Olive wants to find. This is one of the first instances where Olive asserts her own autonomy; she does not want to be treated like a child who requires a parent to solve every problem. Recognizing that she needs to assert her own autonomy with her mom helps her to realize that she must also take more control of her social situation at school.
To this end, Aunt Molly acts as a model for how best to assert one’s autonomy. She guides Olive through the process of doing her own research on variety show acts and empowers her to come up with her own unique idea. Despite her mother’s initial resistance to Olive’s ambition to host, Olive stands up for herself and articulates her reasons for her decision. This step parallels the later conversation that she has with Ava, who is angry at Olive’s decision not to join the cheerleading group. After going through a period of alienation and discomfort, Olive returns to Ava at lunch and explains clearly why hosting fits her and feels meaningful for her, which in turn allows her to reestablish her friendship with Ava. Through Olive’s arc, Miller explores the relationship between growing up and finding individual identity, portraying a vision of maturity that includes introspection and confidence in one’s unique personality.
