Jack is an 11-year-old boy living in the Depression-era planned community of Norvelt. Prone to severe nosebleeds whenever he gets startled or excited, he is an anxious observer of his unpredictable environment. Grounded for the summer after misusing his father's rifle, he serves as the official scribe for his elderly neighbor, gaining a deeper understanding of history and community.

Miss Volker is the aging chief nurse, medical examiner, and obituary writer of Norvelt. Afflicted with severe arthritis that requires her to heat her hands in a pot of paraffin wax, she enlists Jack to write and type her obituaries. She fiercely protects the town's history, harboring a deep reverence for Eleanor Roosevelt and vowing to outlive the original Norvelters to document their passing.

Mom is Jack's strict but highly compassionate mother. Deeply committed to the Norvelt community, she cultivates a cornfield to fund charity dinners for the town's elderly residents. She holds strong anti-capitalist views, preferring a barter economy, and serves as a firm disciplinarian who actively tries to shield her son from violence.

Dad is a World War II Navy veteran and traveling construction worker. Harboring lingering paranoia from the war, he insists on preparing his family for potential conflict with Russia by building a decoy bomb shelter. He wants to leave Norvelt for a more prosperous life in Florida and frequently clashes with his wife by attempting to build a runway for his J-3 airplane in her cornfield.

Edwin Spizz is an original Norvelter and the self-important head of the Norvelt Association for the Public Good. Riding around town on an adult tricycle, he acts as a busybody who eagerly issues fines for minor infractions. Despite his abrasive demeanor and constant pestering of the townspeople, he takes on community duties like delivering dinners and acting as a volunteer fire deputy.

Stella Bunny Huffer is Jack's tomboyish and fearless friend. As the daughter of the town's funeral director, she is highly comfortable with death and frequently jokes about the macabre realities of her father's business. She serves as a sharp contrast to Jack's anxious nature, constantly pushing him to be more daring.

Oscar Huffer is the pragmatic and profit-driven owner of Norvelt's funeral parlor. Viewing the declining town through a purely capitalistic lens, he purchases empty local homes with the intention of relocating them to a more prosperous community in West Virginia. His unsentimental approach to real estate sharply contrasts with the community-first ideals of other residents.

Mr. Greene is the publisher of the Norvelt News. He relies on Miss Volker to provide the local obituaries and "This Day in History" columns that fill his paper's pages. As a dedicated newspaperman, he shows interest in hiring Jack as an assistant and keeps a watchful eye on the unusual occurrences in the shrinking town.

Will is Mom's younger brother and an army veteran. According to Mom, his time in the military turned him into a somewhat confused and abrasive individual. He is an avid hunter who spends his time looking for deer around the Norvelt area.

Emma Devers Salt is an older Norvelt resident whose recent passing prompts a deeply historical obituary. Her death kicks off Miss Volker's summer of recording the end of the town's original generation.

Mrs. Dubicki is an elderly, highly resilient original Norvelter. When Jack sneaks into her house in a grim reaper costume to check on her health, she simply tells him to come back in two weeks because she refuses to miss her grandson's birthday.

Mertie-Jo Kernecky is a local Girl Scout on whom Jack harbors a significant crush. Her family struggles financially in the declining town, prompting them to prepare for a move to Pittsburgh in search of better employment.

Dr. Mertz is the local town physician. He attributes Jack's chronic nosebleeds to an iron deficiency and maintains a strict cash-only policy for his services, rejecting the barter economy that some townspeople try to sustain.