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Grandma Dowdel

This character is Mary Alice's elderly grandmother, and she serves as the heart of the novel.

Mary Alice

This character is fifteen years old at the beginning of the novel. Her parents are so poor that they cannot afford to keep her, so she is shipped off to live with her Grandma in a rural town south of Chicago.

Ina-Rae Gage

This character is a mousy, rail-thin girl in Mary Alice's high school class. She is the one girl who treats Mary Alice with kindness, and they become good friends.

Mildred Burdick

This character is crude and mean and tries to bully Mary Alice into giving her a dollar.

Augie Fluke

This character is the son of the school principal.

Old Man Nyquist

This character is an ancient farmer who has a long and contentious history with Grandma Dowdel.

Carleen Lovejoy

This character is the most...

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