Verna LaVaughn is a fourteen-year-old girl living with her single mother in an impoverished urban apartment building. Driven by a fierce determination to save money for college and escape her surroundings, she takes a demanding job babysitting for a teenage mother. She is compassionate and observant, though she sometimes struggles to balance her strict academic goals with her growing emotional attachment to her employer's family.

Jolly is a seventeen-year-old single mother trying to raise two young children while working full-time in a factory. Having spent her adolescence living on the streets after the loss of her foster mother, she lacks formal education and basic support systems. She is devoted to her children but frequently overwhelmed by her filthy apartment and mounting financial struggles.

LaVaughn's Mother is a widow and the captain of her building's Tenant Council. She functions as a demanding parent, filling the roles of both mother and father after her husband's death by maintaining strict rules and high academic expectations for her daughter. She holds strong opinions about taking responsibility and frequently expresses disapproval of Jolly's lifestyle, though she occasionally demonstrates practical compassion.

Jeremy is Jolly's two-year-old son. He is a cheerful, energetic toddler who views the world with persistent curiosity despite living in a chaotic environment. He forms an immediate attachment to LaVaughn, who teaches him basic skills and brings him a pot of soil to grow lemon seeds.

Jilly is Jolly's infant daughter. She is an active, demanding baby with a trademark curl on her forehead. As she grows from an infant into a crawling toddler, she frequently causes messes and gets into precarious situations, requiring constant vigilance from her mother and babysitter.

LaVaughn's Father is a deceased man who lost his life to an accidental gang shooting when LaVaughn was very young. He was never in a gang himself, choosing to focus on sports instead. He exists in the story entirely through LaVaughn's fragmented memories and the lasting impact his absence has on his family.

Gram is Jolly's deceased foster mother. She provided Jolly with her only memory of a loving, functional home environment, teaching her foster children about gardening and making them feel like a real family. Her death left a young Jolly completely alone in the world.

The Steam Class Teacher is an educator at LaVaughn's high school. She teaches a popular self-esteem course that empowers students to value themselves. She serves as a positive authority figure who notices LaVaughn's academic potential and pushes her to pursue college preparation courses.

Barbara is a representative for the Moms Up Program at the local high school. She coordinates resources for teenage mothers, helping to arrange child care, academic support, and medical access for families in need.

Myrtle is one of LaVaughn's friends from school. She acts as a voice of caution, expressing concern about the dirty conditions of Jolly's apartment and warning LaVaughn that the babysitting job will cause her grades to slip.

Annie is another of LaVaughn's school friends. Like Myrtle, she worries about LaVaughn's decision to work in a chaotic environment and fears that the babysitting job will derail LaVaughn's academic ambitions.

Jolly's Boss is a manager at the factory where Jolly works at the beginning of the story. He uses his position of power to sexually harass Jolly in a supply closet, ultimately firing her when she fights back to defend herself.

Adult Jeremy is a former foster child of Gram's. He grew up to be a kind man who frequently returned to Gram's house to rototill her garden. His positive presence in Jolly's early life inspired her to name her own son after him.