Mei and Hao
Mei is a thirteen-year-old Chinese girl who works for her father, Hao, who is employed as the cook for the Sierra Nevada logging camp in 1885. Mei attains a certain level of fame among the loggers for her ability to make pies to die for. She dresses like a boy and is hesitantly attracted to Bee Anderson.
Bee and Hel Anderson
Hel Anderson is the foreman at the logging camp. He tends toward devaluing the Chinese workers and overlooking oppressive measures taken against them. He has a young daughter named Bee Anderson who is Mei’s friend, but could possibly become something more.
Auntie Po and Pei Pei
Mei is more than merely a master pie maker, however. She also has a great gift for storytelling. And her most popular stories revolve around a larger-than-life figure that quite purposely calls to mind Paul Bunyan named Auntie Po and her constant companion, a big blue water buffalo named Pei Pei which, of course, completes the comparison to Bunyan as her analogue to the big blue ox named Babe.
