Jamie Crawford
The protagonist of the story is a senior at Wilson High School who also happens to be the editor of the school newspaper, the Telegraph. Jamie is also coming to terms with the likelihood that she is a lesbian. In response to the implementation of a new school policy allowing condoms to be distributed to students in the school’s clinic, Jamie writes an editorial supporting the initiative. Alas, her community is filled with conservatives standing in opposition to the idea generally and her supportive editorial more specifically.
Lisa Buel
Lisa Buel is one of those members of the community and she is running for a post on the school board on a platform calling for a return to “traditional values.” Of course, what is meant by traditional values is not loving your neighbor, restraint from committing adultery, and not a rejection of worshiping graven images, but rather removing any book from the library dealing positively with homosexual themes and replacing the protective value of dispensing condoms to students with a solid “just say no” lecture.
Nomi Pembar
Nomi is the art editor of the newspaper and one of Jamie’s oldest friends. This friendship is facing its first genuine test as the result of Nomi falling under the spell of a fire and brimstone pastor at her church who is dedicated to saving the community from “fornicators and homosexuals and pederasts.”
Terry Gage
Terry holds what is usually the really only truly important position on a high school newspaper staff: sports editor. He also happens to be Jamie’s best friend and, like her, is pretty well convinced of homosexuality. He is quite open about this aspect of his life with his BFF, but despite desperately wanting to and several near-misses, is still not yet to the point of being comfortable about coming out to his parents.
Ernie Rivers
Jamie discovers that Terry’s mysterious reticence to get together over the summer as usual turns out to be due to his having fallen in love. Once school begins and the editorial becomes a hot button issue, Terry finally confesses the mystery boy is nothing other than Ernie Rivers, the star of the school’s swim team. While both Jamie and Terry are struggling with their own sexual identity in terms of whether they are “a maybe” or “a definitely’ in terms of being gay, Ernie is situated as “a definitely” who can’t accept it. Overcome with guilt and shame and some sort of desire to be straight, he often lapses into depressive episodes potentially capable of reaching the level of suicidal.
