Second Character Saturday (2): Andrew from Breaking Beautiful

Hannah over at In the Best Words started up a new meme which I love and will try to participate in as much as possible. Saturdays are now dedicated to honor the characters that don't always get their voices heard, who support (or work to destroy) our beloved protagonists. This is for the third wheel in the love triangle (can you have wheels on a triangle?), for the BFFs, the family members, or even just the kind and loving (or deceitful and creepy) stranger who shows up and changes the game. We all know these stories wouldn't hold up without support so I'd like to take the time to highlight the best secondary characters I come across. This is an opportunity to talk about what makes these characters special, maybe to speculate what their world would be like without them, or maybe cast them in their own primary roles.

Andrew from Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

I just finished this book recently and had Insurgent not just come out, I think I'd still have a bit of a hangover from how wonderful this novel really was. One of my favorite characters in it was the main character's twin brother, Andrew.

Andrew is in a wheelchair because he has cerebral palsy and din't have enough oxygen. He has trouble speaking and with movement but he is whip smart and can absorb information like no one's business. What I loved about Andrew was that even though he was handicapped, the author was able to make him into a really strong character. She didn't just discount him as an object in the room (like in the book how so many people are prone to do). Andrew was just like every other brother--protective of his sister, in to cars but he also noticed more than most people. 

I liked that he was hard to understand but as the novel moved on, we the readers, ended up knowing what he was trying  to say as much as Allie did. The sound of his wheelchair bumping down the hall became natural to us too. He is one of those characters that overcomes every obstacle thrown at him and he glows because of it. Without a doubt, he makes this book with his own set of struggles and secrets. Andrew is definitely a second character to honor!

So have you read this book? What did you think of Andrew?