Patina Jones

Patina is the narrator and main character of the novel. She is sometimes called Patty by her friends and thinks of herself as Patty. For the sake of clarity, she is referred to as Patina throughout this study guide except in a direct quote.

Patina is the oldest daughter of Bev and Ronnie Jones and Maddy's older sister. Her adoptive parents are Emily and Tony. She is a student at Chester Academy where she struggles to fit in with her peers. She feels different from most of the students there, who are White and wealthy. She desires friendship and tries to open conversations with three girls when she is working on a group project with them, but there seems to be little interest. She does become friendly with a girl named Becca who invites Patina to sit with her group at lunch. Despite the lack of friends...