Birdie is an adolescent mixed-race girl growing up in Boston during the 1970s. She inherits her white mother's pale skin and straight hair, causing her to look ethnically ambiguous. She initially works hard to assert her black identity at an Afrocentric private school. When her parents separate, her mother takes her into hiding, forcing Birdie to adopt the alias Jesse Goldman and pass as a white Jewish girl.

Cole is Birdie's older sister by three years. She inherits her father's darker skin and curly hair, making her racial identity easily legible to society. She naturally aligns with her father's Afrocentric politics and easily fits in at their all-black private school. Because she looks undeniably black, her parents arrange for her to leave the country with her father to avoid racial persecution.

Sandy is Birdie and Cole's white mother. Raised in a wealthy conservative Boston family, she actively rebels by marrying a black intellectual and dedicating herself to grassroots radicalism. Fearing arrest by the FBI due to her political activities, she goes into hiding with Birdie, transforming herself into a demure middle-class woman named Sheila Goldman.

Deck is Birdie and Cole's African-American father. He is a Harvard-educated scholar who deconstructs America's racial power structures through obsessive academic research. He becomes disillusioned with his integrationist marriage and favors Cole because her appearance aligns with his racial politics, eventually fleeing the country with her to avoid ongoing racial violence.

Dot is Deck's sister and a foundational role model for Birdie. She wears boyish clothes and keeps her hair short and natural. Disillusioned with the infighting of the Black Power movement, she abandons her life in America and moves to India seeking spiritual enlightenment, choosing to view people through their spiritual auras rather than their race.

Jim is an easy-going man who works with computers and begins dating Sandy under her assumed identity. He actively tries to connect with Birdie and act as a father figure by fixing up their cottage and offering tutoring. His growing presence in their lives challenges Sandy's determination to remain isolated from society.

Walter Marsh is an older, wealthy New Hampshire local who rents a property to Sandy. He easily trusts Sandy because he recognizes the social markers of her upper-class upbringing, remaining completely unaware of her fugitive status. He even helps her secure a job as a research assistant at a nearby university.

Libby Marsh is Walter's wife and a firm member of the local upper class. She observes that Sandy and Birdie are somewhat peculiar but accepts them into her orbit because they exhibit recognizable markers of good breeding.

Samantha is a mixed-race girl adopted by white Quaker parents in New Hampshire. Her classmates mock her appearance and treat her as a token object of ridicule. For Birdie, Samantha represents a painful mirror of the alienation she fears experiencing if she reveals her true racial background to her new friends.

Nicholas is the teenage son of the wealthy Marsh family. He spends his summer days riding horses and lounging around the estate with Birdie. He forms a tentative romantic connection with her, though his casual racial remarks privately disturb her.

Penelope is Sandy's mother, a proud descendant of prominent New England Puritans. She disapproves of Sandy's bohemian lifestyle and political choices. She overtly favors Birdie over Cole because Birdie looks European and praises her for looking Mediterranean.

Carmen is Deck's African-American girlfriend. She quickly becomes a maternal figure for Cole, bonding with her during their time snowed in together. She exhibits far less patience for Birdie, accelerating the family's division along racial lines.

Ali is a student at the Afrocentric Nkrumah school who becomes Birdie's boyfriend. He eventually provides Birdie with a sense of connection to her past when she seeks information about her family's whereabouts.

Ronnie is Deck's former best friend and Ali's father. He lives openly with his male partner. He acts as a crucial link to Deck's whereabouts after the family separates, retaining key information about Deck's timeline.

Mona is a local girl in New Hampshire who helps Birdie assimilate into the rural, working-class teenage culture. She teaches Birdie how to style her hair and dress to fit in with their peers, totally unaware of Birdie's true identity.

Dennis is Mona's older half-brother who lives in their rural New Hampshire town. He owns a truck and hosts social gatherings for the local teenagers.

Taj is Dot's three-year-old, half-Indian daughter born after Dot's spiritual journey. As a young mixed-race child, she eagerly connects with Birdie.