CHARACTER
Ungiftedby Gordon Korman

Chloe Garfinkle

Chloe Garfinkle

Quick Facts

  • Role: Chloe Garfinkle is an ASD standout (IQ 159), a core member of the robotics team, and the class’s most socially aware voice.
  • First appearance: Introduced at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction as a brilliant student eager for a “normal” middle school life.
  • Key relationships: Donovan Curtis, Abigail Lee, Katie Patterson, Noah Youkilis.

Who They Are

Chloe is the gifted kid who refuses to be defined by test scores alone. She bridges the sterile, high-achieving world of ASD and the messy, social world Donovan brings with him, recognizing that intelligence without connection feels incomplete. Even her style—oversized flannels, no makeup, and a wry “THAT’S OKAY, PLUTO. I’M NOT A PLANET EITHER.” button—signals both her self-awareness and her outsider status. When she dresses up for the Valentine Dance and Donovan thinks she looks “different-awesome,” the moment crystallizes her longing to be seen beyond “the smart girl.”

Chloe’s perspective anchors the book’s exploration of what it means to be smart, pushing the story’s central idea in The Nature of Giftedness and Intelligence toward a broader definition that includes emotional acuity and social courage. Her arc also maps the push-pull of Identity and Belonging: she wants the dance, the pep rally, the ordinary rites of middle school—and she wants to be authentically herself while claiming them.

Personality & Traits

Chloe’s defining trait is her brilliant mind applied to human questions. She treats social life like a lab, framing feelings as hypotheses—yet what she really wants is to live those feelings in real time. That tension makes her both the class’s conscience and its quiet rebel.

  • Intelligent and inquisitive: She constantly tests ideas against experience, even phrasing her frustration as, “<<Hypothesis: Being gifted is not a gift.>>” Her scientific mindset doesn’t wall her off—it helps her name what’s missing.
  • Socially aware and aspirational: She’s the first to argue, convincingly, that dances and pep rallies aren’t distractions but necessary parts of growing up. “Why can’t we?” becomes her rallying cry against ASD’s isolation.
  • Empathetic and kind: She welcomes Donovan immediately, defends him when Abigail doubts him, and offers both information and comfort to Katie during the Human Growth and Development project.
  • Loyal and brave: Chloe’s loyalty turns active—she cuts school for the first time to bring Donovan back for the robotics meet, showing she’ll bend rules for people, not just for points.
  • Self-conscious yet expressive: Her flannels and the Pluto button show a wry, outsider humor; her Valentine Dance transformation—wearing her aunt’s wedding-guest dress with a cardigan—reveals both vulnerability and desire to belong when Donovan calls her “different-awesome.”

Character Journey

Chloe begins as a top-tier student who’s painfully aware of what the ASD bubble excludes. Donovan’s arrival pushes her to test her own “normal-life” hypothesis: that dances, friendships, and risk-taking are not detours from learning but part of it. As she advocates for Donovan, comforts Katie, and steps into crises with calm competence, Chloe shifts from passive wishing to active choosing. By the end, she has argued with adults, broken rules, helped run a hospital “birthing team,” shown up at a state robotics meet, gone to a dance, and even adopted a puppy—proof that her gifted identity can hold both excellence and ordinary joy.

Key Relationships

  • Donovan Curtis: Donovan is the catalyst for Chloe’s growth and the focus of her crush. She’s the first to recognize his social intelligence—naming the robot, piloting it well, and energizing the team—and defends his value even when test scores say otherwise. Through him, she learns that heart can drive achievement as powerfully as raw intellect.

  • Abigail Lee: Abigail represents the high-achieving, competition-first mindset that Chloe questions. Their clashes over Donovan and over dances expose a philosophical split: to Chloe, life balance strengthens learning; to Abigail, it threatens it. The contrast sharpens Chloe’s voice as the class’s advocate for normalcy.

  • Katie Patterson: With Katie, Chloe blends science and empathy. She’s fascinated by the biology of pregnancy but becomes a steady presence during the actual labor, translating knowledge into care. Their bond proves Chloe’s intellect works best when it’s in service of people.

  • Noah Youkilis: Chloe treats Noah with patient respect, admiring his towering intellect while accommodating his social awkwardness. Her kindness helps him navigate an environment that often overlooks emotional needs, underscoring her role as the group’s emotional compass.

Defining Moments

Chloe’s milestones trace her shift from observer to participant, from rule-follower to principled friend.

  • The Valentine Dance: She dresses up, enters a world she’s long imagined, and lets herself be seen—signaling a choice to pursue belonging, not just achievement.
  • Defending Donovan to Mr. Osborne: Calling Donovan the “heart and soul” of their class reframes value at ASD from test-based to human-centered—and forces an adult to hear it.
  • Cutting school to find Donovan: Skipping classes to bring him back to the robotics meet is a radical act for Chloe; loyalty outweighs fear of consequences.
  • The robotics meet and the birth: When chaos erupts and Katie goes into labor, Chloe snaps into action—“The baby! Katie’s having the baby!”—and helps organize the hospital team. It’s the moment her scientific poise and social leadership fully merge.

Essential Quotes

<<Hypothesis: Being gifted is not a gift. A gift you get for nothing. This you have to pay for.>> This line captures Chloe’s core critique: giftedness at ASD feels transactional and isolating, not celebratory. By casting it as a “hypothesis,” she invites testing—and the novel proceeds to validate her claim through experience, not scores.

“Every day millions of kids around this country do millions of normal activities, and they have a great time at it. Why can’t we?” Here Chloe argues that “normal” isn’t trivial—it’s formative. The rhetorical “Why can’t we?” exposes institutional barriers and positions her as the class’s advocate for a fuller adolescence.

“Donovan might not be gifted in the same way as the rest of us, but he’s the heart and soul of our team! He’s the heart and soul of our class!” Chloe redefines giftedness in communal terms, insisting that contribution isn’t limited to academics. Repeating “heart and soul” foregrounds how Donovan animates their learning environment.

“I didn’t come here to make him feel bad! I came to tell him how sorry we are!” This protest shows Chloe’s moral center: accountability without cruelty. She refuses to let institutional punishment erase human connection, prioritizing repair over blame.