Janina Milgrom
Misha is the narrator and main character of the book. He is a young boy who finds himself growing up in the streets of Warsaw, surviving by stealing food. As he and everyone he knows believe, Misha's small size, stealth, and speed are what helped him survive throughout the novel. In the beginning, Misha thinks his name is Stopthief because whenever he steals, people shout "Stop! Thief!", but then he meets a boy called Uri who introduces him to a group of other boys like him and tells Misha his name and story.
Throughout the novel, Misha is lost in his identity; whenever someone tells him you are something, he quickly believes that he is that identity. Because of the people around him, Misha was a Gypsy, a Jew, a Milgrom family member, and finally was given the name Jack by a stranger. He agreed to all the identities. Misha was also very inexperienced in life and knew very little about everything; he just knew bread and how to survive. At the end of the story, Misha gets married to Vivian but she soon leaves him after she gets married. After many years, his daughter and granddaughter finally find him and take him to live with them.
Janina
Janina is a girl Misha meets when he steals from Warsaw's house and becomes best friends with her. They steal together and when they are put in the ghetto, Janina becomes Misha's shadow and they go together through the two brick gap in the wall to steal food outside the ghetto.
When the deportations start, Janina's father tells Misha to take Janina and run. Unable to leave her father alone, Janina goes back to the ghetto and unfortunately gets on the train. Misha survives but stays for a long time following the tracks to get to Janina. Janina is a moody girl and a competitive one; she always wanted to prove that she was better than Misha.
Uri
Uri is the young boy Misha first meets and who changes Misha's life. He introduces Misha to a group of boys whom he lives with until they are separated. When the ghettos are built, Uri can work in the laundry in a hotel outside of the ghetto because of his non-Jewish looks. Uri helps Misha and guides him through lots of situations, advising him to do the right, and reprimanding him when he does the wrong thing. Misha learned from Uri a lot of things. Uri saves Misha's life when he shoots Misha and makes him lose consciousness before he rides the train.
