Khosrou is a twelve-year-old Iranian refugee living in Oklahoma who goes by the easier-to-pronounce name Daniel. He serves as the narrator, adopting the role of Scheherazade to tell overlapping stories to his class and his teacher to hold their attention. He struggles with an identity crisis, feeling split between his Persian heritage and his American present, while facing daily bullying and poverty at school.

Sima is a highly educated former doctor from Iran who is forced to take low-paying jobs in the United States because her credentials are not recognized. She acts as the persistent force keeping her family moving forward, erasing used workbooks for her children in an Italian refugee camp and enduring a difficult marriage in Oklahoma for the sake of financial stability.

Massoud is a dentist who remains in Iran after his wife and children flee the country. He served time in prison for selling drugs and is remembered by his son through a complex mix of grand myths and flawed reality. He maintains a larger-than-life persona from afar but often falls short of the heroic expectations placed upon him.

Daniel's older sister focuses heavily on academics and entrepreneurship as her way of managing life in the United States. She is a straight-A student who actively opposes their stepfather's presence in the house. She demonstrates her practical resourcefulness early on by striking a lucrative business deal selling small rugs.

A teacher at Daniel's school in Oklahoma who serves as the primary audience for his continuous string of memories and myths. She provides a safe space for him to speak, balancing her role as an educator with a quiet willingness to listen to a student who desperately needs to be heard.

Sima's second husband in the United States. He is a physically imposing man who brings necessary financial support to the struggling family but also introduces domestic abuse into their home. His volatile temper creates a constant state of tension for Sima and the children.

Daniel's grandfather who lives in the village of Ardestan in Iran. He represents the protagonist's strongest connection to his ancestral homeland, and his singular wish is to see his grandson again before he passes away.

Sima's maternal grandmother, whose life story Daniel recounts to his class. Following her beloved father's disappearance, she is forced into an arranged marriage at age fourteen by her greedy uncles, beginning a life marked by endurance and tragedy.

Daniel's grandmother who writes poetry and survives a highly dramatic, troubled life in Iran. She is banished to England by her husband after a failed plot to have him killed, leaving most of her children behind in her home country.

Sima's sister and Ellie's youngest daughter. Her wedding to an Englishman in a London church inadvertently changes the course of Daniel's family history by introducing Sima to the Christian faith.

A seventeen-year-old Kurdish nomad who suffered injuries from a chemical bombing. He shares Kurdish creation myths with Daniel and leaves a lasting impression through a small act of kindness before disappearing from the camp.

A classmate who frequently bullies Daniel. His constant harassment forces Daniel to purposely oversleep and manipulate his daily schedule just to avoid crossing his path in the hallways.

A girl in Daniel's class who serves as the object of his unrequited affection. She is more interested in another boy and finds Daniel's stories somewhat off-putting, reinforcing his feelings of alienation in America.

A local merchant who underestimates Dina's work ethic. He makes a casual promise to buy homemade mini rugs from the children, only to be outsmarted when they produce two hundred of them to fund a college account.

An auto parts salesman who marries the fourteen-year-old Aziz. He proves to be a surprisingly good husband until a fatal altercation over a car repair with a vindictive doctor cuts his life short.

A legendary figure from one of Daniel's stories. He pours his unrequited love for a governor's daughter into his baking, eventually becoming a master baker whose tragic romance gives a local bakery its distinctive name.

The daughter of a governor in Daniel's myth of Akh Tamar. She realizes the depth of the baker's devotion only upon tasting his pastry at her own wedding to another man.

The grandson of a great shah in a tragic mythological romance Daniel tells. He schemes, marries for military power, and tricks his romantic rival into suicide, illustrating Daniel's belief that all Persian love stories end in tragedy.

A legendary beauty in a Persian myth who insists her suitor prove his worth through military conquest. She poisons her rival to secure her position but ultimately meets a tragic end.