Mama

Mama is the central character of the book. She is the matriarch of a family of five children and very much the glue that holds it together and keeps it strong. She is originally from Norway and only recently immigrated to America; as a result, her command of English is sometimes unsteady. Though she cannot speak the best English, she is a powerful problem mediator and never fails to do the right thing or say the right thing in her endearing broken English manner.

Mama is the one that all the family members turn to with their problems, and it seems she always has the perfect solution to everyone's problems. She solves problems with a combination of simple values, persistence, uncommon wisdom, and ingenuity. She is a very self-sacrificing woman, as symbolized by the fur coat everyone says she needs but that she always finds an excuse not...