This was now this is then

M&M is a thirteen-year-old boy who has been becoming a hippie at the start of the novel. He is nicknamed ‘M&M’ because of his obsession with the candy, and Bryon cannot even remember his actual name. He is Cathy’s younger brother, the second oldest Carlson. He is smart and honest and innocent, but to excess: he is picked on by many in the community, and almost mugged at the beginning of the book. He has strained relations with his parents, particularly his father, and ends up running away and joining a hippie commune, where he accidentally overdoses on LSD.