Caroline

Caroline is a 13-year-old girl who is living in a camp in the woods with a man she identifies only as Father. Caroline is intelligent and devoted to Father and to their lifestyle, though she is beginning to feel differently by the time this story picks up. Father teaches her and she considers that akin to being home-schooled. When Caroline and Father are taken into custody, she takes a test that demonstrates she is ahead academically. She passes the GED well ahead of when she would normally have graduated high school. After Father dies, Caroline takes control of her life, which also demonstrates a high level of intelligence and capability.

Caroline's nontraditional upbringing means she has taken on most of Father's belief system, or at least what he has taught her to be right. She is careful in the forest to leave little trace of her existence. She...