Balls
Balls, as in games played with balls, becomes the symbol for boyhood, manhood, masculinity and, sure, that other meaning of the word. When Amanda’s dad complains to his wife that Andrew “can’t even throw a ball” he is not just limiting his concern to the ability to pitch or toss or hurl or pass. The inability to throw the ball is expansive metaphor symbolizing that even he understands on a certain intuitive level that his son is not exactly “all boy” as the saying goes.
Cicadas
Cicadas make their presence known with an enormously loud collective buzzing sort of sound that is pretty much impossible to ignore unless one is completely deaf—which actually could potentially result from the sound if one were in close enough proximity for long enough. Fortunately, this potential is on the downside of likelihood since the song of the cicadas is not something heard persistently like cricket. Amanda notes the saving grace peculiarity of the cicada: they spend most of their lives underground, hidden away from view. She wonders if this will be her fate as a trans woman, symbolically linking to the cicadas by being forced to live most of her life underground, hiding the facts of her gender reality.
Amanda’s Ringtone
The ringtone on Amanda’s phone is revealed to be the exultant main theme to Star Wars composed by John Williams. That tune may well be one of the five most instantly recognizable pieces of music composed in the 20th century and just about everyone may find something symbolic about its use as a ringtone that applies mainly to themselves. The interesting thing in this instance is that the symbolism applies equally to Amanda and Grant: the film itself is a symbol of the possibilities that exist out there beyond the things we see every day and take for granted. The ringtone is a constant symbolic reminder to Amanda that there are entire galaxies far, far away right here on our own planet.
Han, Leia, Boba, and Darth
Star Wars is actually a pretty big deal in the book. On two separate occasions characters dress up in costume as famous characters from the movie. There is also a lot of genderbending going: Grant takes on the role of Leia and Amanda at different times becomes Boba Fett and Han Solo. Another character is briefly costumed as the supreme villain of the galaxy, Darth Vader, yet takes this opportunity to speak more gently and honestly with Amanda. The whole idea of Star Wars being a symbol of the unlimited potential for possibilities is more explicitly connected to the theme of gender conventions and expectations through the use of adopted personas engaged by various characters.
Football
As opposed to games that use balls generally, football is very specifically forwarded as multi-faceted symbol of American society in the book. Amanda had absolutely no interest in football until she meets the high school football star, Grant. All it takes is this tiny little nugget of interest in something that isn’t really even interest in the game to allow her to view America’s obsession with high school football through a metaphorical prism: it is the centerpiece of Friday nights in the fall in most towns with a population large enough to allow a team to be fielded. The trophies and records a record of American history that often traces farther back into the past than anything else a school keeps track of; it is American history. Football games are a place where the outsiders bond the strongest, where the middle-age fathers are less protective of the shield hiding their lascivious desires for teenage girls, where dullard students can make their mark and where even, on occasion, economic disparity almost starts to temporarily blur.
