connection to a character

The one character that I read about that I could connect to is the main character of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar. I did not like the whole book, but in the story a boy who is very lonely and depressed about his dad dying in the 911 terrorist attack, does crazy ridiculous things, like finding the owner of a random key lock.
My dad did not die and I am not depressed, but I guess I could say at dorm and at school I am not that active, and pretty reclusive and it's getting boring, but the one thing I really strive to do is run for cross-country practice after school.
Similarly in this book Oskar does not like school and does not have any friends, but when school ends he sets out immediantly to find the owner of the missing key lock.