Anastasia Krupnik

Anastasia is the titular protagonist of the novel. In appearance, she is tall and blonde with “fourteen freckles across her nose (and seven others in places that she preferred people not to know about)” (1). This description both gives readers a visual image for Anastasia and introduces them to her signature narrative humor and style. Since the story focuses on how incidents in Anastasia’s life affect her on an emotional level, she becomes a symbol of the book’s three major themes: Coping with Complex Emotions, The Difficulty of Forming an Identity, and The Pressure to Act in the Face of Uncertainty. Anastasia’s greatest emotional struggles are how she feels about her grandmother and baby brother. At the beginning of the novel, Anastasia deals with her complex emotions by trying not to think about them because doing so makes her uncomfortable. However, as the story progresses and Anastasia is forced to spend time with her grandmother, she realizes that running from her emotions doesn’t help her understand them. Similarly, she remains angry at her parents for surprising her with the news of her mother’s pregnancy just a few months from the baby’s due date.