Russell Culver

Russell is the narrator of the novel. He is Tansy's younger brother and Lloyd's older brother. His father is O.C., who is a widower. His mother's sister is Maud who spends a lot of time with the family. Russell is 15 years old as the novel opens, and he is desperate to be free of the demands of school. He dreams of traveling to the Dakotas to work on a wheat-threshing crew. While he has no concrete information about the trip or what he will find there, he believes it will be a better life. He is a hard worker. On the day he plans to leave with Charlie, his plan includes giving his father a full day of work before setting out. He willingly tackles any job, and he considers many of the tasks easy compared to the hard labor that is part of life on...