Crash Coogan
Crash, the protagonist, is 5-years-old at the beginning of the story. He's sort of a cautious boy who is not over-eager to expand his horizons. When Penn and his family move in next door, they intimidate Crash with their foreignness. Even though they're only from North Dakota, they're speech and lifestyle is strange to Crash. In response, he bullies Penn. Crash continues to resist things that he cannot understand -- like his sister's passion for entymology -- until his grandpa has a stroke. Crash doesn't have many friends besides Mike, so losing his intimacy with his grandpa is a big deal. Although he doesn't understand it, he appreciates Penn's kind attention paid to the old man. He starts paying attention to what may be important to other people, like Penn. Eventually he realizes that Penn deserves a win too, so he lets him win an important race in school to make his great grandfather proud.
Penn Webb
Penn is the new neighbor kid. With no siblings and few toys, Penn is a curiosity to Crash. He's curious and easy to impress. He's memorized a bunch of random knowledge and converses pretty easily with adults. When he hears about Scooter's stroke, Penn stops by to encourage the old man. He gives him his most prized possession -- the can of dirt from his great grandpa -- as a boon of good will. In the end, the gesture is so compelling that it persuades Crash to give Penn a second chance. Turns out he's just a sweet guy who doesn't feel the need to compete.
Mike Deluca
Mike is Crash's best friend in seventh grade. Like Crash, he's on the football team and cares a great deal about reputation. He enjoy feeling important and popular, but he doesn't have a lot of emotional depth to deal with Crash's crisis after his grandpa has a stroke. Instead he decides to wait for the whole thing to blow over on his own, a response not much appreciated by his friend.
Scooter
Scooter is Crash's grandpa. As his health declines in old age, he moves into the Coogan home. He loves being there, being especially fond of his grandchildren. He and Crash have a close relationship, too, based upon mutual trust. When Scooter has a stroke suddenly, he loses some of his motor skills and retards his speech skill a bit. The road to recovery is long but possible. Just when he needs support the most, Scooter receives Penn's sweet gift which really encourages him to tackle the recovery process.
