Jared

Jared is the protagonist of the novel. He is a 16-year-old Indigenous Canadian teenager. He is much more emotional and soft-spoken than his mother, and she and her succession of abusive boyfriends instill unhealthy notions into him about how his emotions are to be dealt with.

Jared goes through much of the novel undergoing abuse from various people in his life. His mother may mean well and love him, but she often punishes him for things in outlandish ways like destroying his bedroom or leaving for weeks on end so that he has to pay all the bills. Most of her anger comes when she learns that Jared is helping his father with money even though she hates his father and does not want him to be in contact with Jared at all. The only people who seem like they truly are good to Jared are Sarah and...