Davis "Davey" Wexler, who was given her mother's maiden name because there was no one else left to carry on the family name, is a perfect Blume heroine, feisty and feeling, smart and assertive, one not afraid to show emotion, be it sadness, anger, elation, or fear. She has brown hair, eyes like a cat, a swimmer's build (although she does not swim or dive), and a personality that combines toughness and vulnerability with a sense of humor. Her parents are both half Jewish. She is fifteen at the novel's beginning, sixteen at its end.

Those most important to Davey are her immediate family: her father, Adam Wexler, who recently died but who is still very much alive in Davey's thoughts; her mother, Gwendolyn, who falls into the depths of depression following the death of her beloved husband; her seven-year-old brother, Jason, who is young and...