Catherine
Catherine, a 12-year-old girl and the protagonist of the story, is a David's sister. When a new next door neighbor, and a potential new best friend, moves in, she is very excited and cannot wait to meet them. When she goes to her brother's occupational therapy, or OT, she meets another new friend, Jason. Because Jason is handicapped, she is afraid that Kristi, her new next door neighbor, will judge her. Catherine, who is so desperate to be Kristi's best friend, hides the fact that Jason is handicapped to Kristi. In the end, she learns that Jason is her true friend.
Most of Catherine's life is her trying to help her brother David. Catherine has two guinea pigs. She loves to draw, but she can't dance. She loves to swim in the lake close to her house. In her free time, she makes word cards for Jason, and she makes lists of rules for David.
David
David is Catherine's 8-year-old brother. He has autism, likes everything to go as planned, and hears everything louder than it actually is. He has to go to OT every week, and he enjoys dropping toys in the fish tank. He hates getting wet, and he is constantly teased by Ryan. His favorite thing to do is go to the video store. When he does puzzles, he has to do them from left to right. When something doesn't go as planned, he gets very angry, and he only likes the answers "yes" and "no." If you say "maybe" or "I don't know," he will start screaming.
Kristi
Kristi is Catherine's new next door neighbor. She is very nice at first, and she volunteers at the community center. However, when introduced to Jason, she becomes very rude. She is friends with Ryan, and she is very "cool." Kristi doesn't like to go swimming in the pond, especially because it has mud on the bottom. Her parents are divorced, and she wants them to get back together.
Jason
Jason goes to David's OT. He can't walk or talk. To communicate, he points to cards inside of his speech book. His mother has to push him around in his wheelchair. Later, however, he decides to get a wheelchair that has a joystick. He plays the piano, and after Catherine buys him a guitar, he starts to play the guitar. He loves to listen to music also. He can convince Catherine to dance at the very end of the book.
Ryan
Ryan is a bully to Catherine and David. When Kristi comes along, though, he starts to be nice to her, but truly, he is a very rude person. He calls David a retard, and he gives David an empty gum wrapper, knowing it will make him very mad and sad. He lets some kids stay in his house when they wait for the bus, but he leaves out Catherine and David.
Catherine's Mom
Catherine's mom cares a lot about David and Catherine. She is also good at a lot of things like cooking, helping, and working. She works at home, most of the time just calling her clients. She tries to make David talk, but she hates it when he uses words from someone else.
Catherine's Dad
Catherine's dad works at a pharmacy, and he tries to work overtime to earn more money. He takes David to the video store a lot. He is always late, which makes David mad. He really likes to garden.
