CHARACTER
Holding up the Universeby Jennifer Niven

Dave Kaminski

Dave “Kam” Kaminski

Quick Facts

Bold, popular, and often reckless, Dave “Kam” Kaminski is one of Jack Masselin’s closest friends and a fixture in the school’s jock crowd.

  • Role: Jack’s ride-or-die friend; ringleader energy within the popular group
  • First appearance: Early scenes with Jack’s friend circle, where their “games” set the novel’s social stakes
  • Distinguishing feature: Striking white‑blond hair—crucial because Jack can reliably recognize him by it
  • Known for: Impulsive pranks (including “Fat Girl Rodeo”), carrying a flask, blunt one-liners
  • Key relationships: Best friends with Jack; partnered in mischief with Seth Powell; an antagonist to Iris Engelbrecht; remembered by Libby Strout as a “scrawny twelve-year-old with white hair”

Who They Are

Under the swagger, Kam is a study in contradictions: a boy who jumps into cruel jokes, yet proves unusually perceptive and fiercely loyal. His white‑blond hair doesn’t just mark him socially—it anchors Jack’s world, since Jack can consistently recognize him. Kam’s loudness masks an ability to read his friends’ inner lives, and his arc reveals the gap between the bravado of high school masculinity and the empathy it often conceals. He’s the character who reminds us that the same person who hurts can also help—and might learn to choose the latter.

Personality & Traits

Kam performs the part of the unfiltered jock, but the performance doesn’t fully contain him. He’s quick to act, quicker to joke, and yet he notices more than most. His loyalty is not performative; it shows up when it’s dangerous and when it matters.

  • Impulsive and immature: He’s the first to act on Seth’s idea for “Fat Girl Rodeo,” grabbing Iris in the schoolyard while Seth times him—an ugly, casual cruelty that embodies the theme of Seeing Beyond Appearances. The ever-present flask underscores his reckless, show-off attitude.
  • Loyal: Kam warns Jack that Reed Young is looking to fight him and later helps defend Jack against the Hunt brothers. That steadfastness forms a safety net for Jack, who struggles with Loneliness and Isolation.
  • Perceptive: Unlike Seth, Kam sees through Jack’s mask. His pointed question—whether Jack is “as dickish as the rest of us” or actually has a heart—shows he recognizes Jack’s internal conflict and isn’t afraid to test it.
  • Capable of empathy: After Jack publicly reveals his prosopagnosia, Kam processes the news without mockery. His text acknowledges that “we’ve all got something,” reframing difference as a shared human condition rather than a flaw.

Character Journey

Kam’s arc begins with swagger and ends with a quieter kind of strength. Introduced as a thoughtless instigator who helps kick off “Fat Girl Rodeo,” he initially represents the ambient cruelty of their social world—the way cruelty blends into humor, into sport, into something these boys tell themselves is harmless. Yet the same boy who laughs at a prank also shows up when Jack is in danger and when Jack is vulnerable. The turning point arrives after Jack’s public confession about prosopagnosia: while others reach for ridicule, Kam reaches for understanding. He doesn’t become a new person overnight, but he does become a truer friend, moving from crowd-pleaser to someone who can look his best friend in the face—figuratively, for Jack—and say, “I see you.”

Key Relationships

  • Jack Masselin: Kam is an anchor in Jack’s disorienting world. Because Jack can recognize Kam by his hair, their friendship is unusually practical as well as emotional—Kam becomes the face Jack can find in a crowd. Their crude banter masks a deeper, reciprocal trust; Kam challenges Jack’s moral evasions while also defending him when it counts.

  • Libby Strout: Kam’s world collides with Libby’s through the fallout of “Fat Girl Rodeo.” Libby’s memory of him as a “scrawny twelve-year-old” juxtaposes the boy he was with the swaggering teen he performs, highlighting how reputations calcify—and how people outgrow (or hide behind) their old selves.

  • Seth Powell: Kam and Seth function as a comic-tragic duo, with Seth as the idea guy and Kam as the muscle. Kam’s frequent exasperation with Seth’s stupidity suggests he’s more self-aware than his behavior implies; he’s not just a yes-man, even when he goes along.

  • Iris Engelbrecht: Kam’s physical grab of Iris turns a cruel joke into a violation, making him a direct antagonist. The incident forces him—and everyone watching—to confront the gap between what the boys call a “game” and the harm it inflicts.

Defining Moments

Kam’s defining scenes track his shift from reckless follower to intentional friend.

  • Initiating “Fat Girl Rodeo”: Acting on Seth’s cue, Kam grabs Iris while Seth times him. Why it matters: It reveals how cruelty masquerades as entertainment in their crowd and positions Kam as a willing participant, not just a bystander.
  • Cafeteria “congratulations”: After Libby punches Jack, Kam jokingly applauds Jack for “winning” the rodeo. Why it matters: The joke exposes the moral blind spot of the group—violence and humiliation are still just points on the scoreboard.
  • The prosopagnosia reveal—and Kam’s text: After Jack’s confession, Kam responds with empathy rather than derision. Why it matters: It’s the clearest sign of growth, as he reframes difference as universal, replacing mockery with solidarity and deepening his bond with Jack.

Essential Quotes

“You know, sometimes I can’t figure you out. Are you as dickish as the rest of us? Or is there a heart beating in that underdeveloped chest of yours?”

Kam puts words to Jack’s double life, naming the tension between performance and compassion. The line shows Kam’s acuity: he sees the moral stakes, even if he doesn’t always act on them. It’s also a challenge—pressure from a friend to be better.

“Congrats, princess. You win. Choose the place so we can take your sorry ass out for a victory meal. But hey, do me a favor and don’t get your ass kicked by any other girls before then.”

This flippant “congratulations” reveals how Kam and his friends convert harm into humor. The sarcasm cloaks discomfort; joking lets them avoid accountability. It also highlights the toxic scorekeeping of their social world, where even humiliation gets treated as a win.

“Shit. This prosopagnosia is one trippy mo-fo. But hey man, we’ve all got something. We’re all weird and damaged in our own way. You’re not the only one.”

Here, Kam drops the bravado and meets Jack with empathy. He normalizes Jack’s condition without minimizing it, recasting vulnerability as universal rather than isolating. The message marks Kam’s pivot from crowd-sanctioned cruelty to genuine, sustaining friendship.