Tokunbo is an organized, eleven-year-old girl who enjoys baking and playing the drums. Accustomed to having her mother entirely to herself, she faces a major adjustment when they move into a bustling Harlem brownstone. She loves order and predictability, which heavily contrasts with her new family's spontaneous lifestyle.

Sunday is an eleven-year-old musician who plays the keyboard and is eager to welcome a new sibling. Having lived in a co-housing setup with the Dwyer family, she is completely comfortable with noise, animals, spontaneous learning, and constant activity. She strives to form a close sisterly bond with her new stepsister.

Lil is an eleven-year-old twin who plays the electric guitar and lives in a co-housing arrangement with the Saunders family. She enjoys physical activities like skateboarding and demonstrates a talent for sewing. She actively embraces freeschooling, joining her parents and housemates in a fluid educational environment.

Lee is an eleven-year-old twin with a deep passion for animals, frequently volunteering at the local shelter. She sings and plays the bass, contributing to the household's deeply musical environment. She sometimes brings animals home without asking the adults, reflecting the house's chaotic energy.

Lola is a thoughtful, considerate single mother who descends from a family of bakers. She falls in love with Bill Saunders and quickly marries him at a courthouse, transitioning her small family into a large co-housing situation. She works hard to balance her daughter's needs with her desire for a broader community.

Bill runs an independent bookstore and lives in a large Harlem brownstone with his daughter and the Dwyer family. He represents a kind, stable presence for Lola, proposing to her and expanding his family. He uses a wheelchair due to a past accident and encourages a fluid, community-oriented lifestyle.

Charles, known to the children as Papa Charles, is an actor who shares a brownstone with his wife, twin daughters, and the extended Saunders family. He actively helps manage a house filled with free-roaming pets and energetic freeschooling children. He values creative education and strongly encourages community engagement by participating in local restoration projects.

Hope, known as Mama Hope, is a mapmaker who embraces the creative energy of her large co-housing brownstone. She helps facilitate the children's daily freeschooling assignments, which blend traditional subjects with hands-on neighborhood exploration. She also attempts to maintain order among the household's ever-growing menagerie of rescued pets.

Dougie is a young boy living in Tokunbo's old apartment building. He looks up to Tokunbo, who has babysat him for a year, and often asks to tag along on her errands. He is observant and eager to enforce rules, like telling older girls not to litter.

Dawn, known as Mrs. Dougie, is Dougie's mother and Tokunbo's former neighbor. She respects Bill's career and actively tries to organize her building's tenants.

Sunflower is a respected local figure and Black culinary royalty who originally owned the Saunders-Dwyer brownstone. She travels often but maintains a strong presence in the neighborhood, frequently offering creative ideas to the family.

Ms. Tyler is an elderly neighborhood resident who views the large co-housing family with suspicion. Despite her prickly exterior, she holds a deep history in the neighborhood and possesses hidden talents.

Reese is a neighborhood bully who frequently picks on the Dwyer-Saunders girls. She leads a very talented local band called Gloss and uses her musical skills to intimidate others.

Lita is one of Reese's friends and a member of the local band Gloss. She frequently joins Reese in bullying the Dwyer-Saunders family, even laughing at Tokunbo during beginner swimming lessons.

Maya is a local girl who plays in the band Gloss. She forms part of Reese's posse, contributing to the antagonistic dynamic with the newly blended family.

Amy is a serious, bossy little girl who lives in the neighborhood. She becomes one of the girls' first babysitting clients and demands to be treated as an assistant rather than a child.

Marcus is a neighborhood boy who engages in good-natured teasing with the girls. He hangs out with his friend Kareem and gradually becomes supportive of the girls' neighborhood projects.

Kareem is a local boy who enjoys trading jokes with the Dwyer-Saunders sisters. His mother eventually hires the girls' babysitting band to look after his younger siblings.

Dr. Coleman runs the local animal shelter where Lee volunteers. The shelter faces severe funding issues, prompting the girls to look for ways to help.

Rubia is the Dwyer-Saunders family dog. She contributes to the lively, chaotic atmosphere of the Harlem brownstone and enjoys having space to roam in the combined backyard.

Mr. Bultitude is one of the family's cats. He freely roams the house, adding to the bustling environment that surprises newcomers.

Mrs. Pilkington is the family's second cat, forming part of the extensive indoor menagerie that the adults and children care for together.

Urkel is the family's pet turtle. He lives in the brownstone and requires regular care from the freeschooling children.

Dwayne Wayne is the family's bearded dragon. He represents the exotic variety of pets the Dwyer-Saunders household maintains.

Barbara is one of the family's hens. Because she lives outside in the connected yard, she is one of the few animals Tokunbo immediately tolerates.

Shirley is a hen living in the Dwyer-Saunders family's combined backyard. Cleaning her coop becomes one of the girls' shared daily chores.

Barkerson is a small puppy that Lee attempts to secretly adopt and bring home to the brownstone, causing a minor household dispute.

Stevia is Kareem's younger sibling. The girls entertain Stevia by playing music during their newly formed babysitting band's first official job.

Zora is another of Kareem's younger siblings who requires the babysitting band's musical entertainment to settle down.

Celia is Tokunbo's frenemy from her old school. She acts dismissively toward Tokunbo and ignores Dougie's complaints about littering.

Bella is a young girl who moves into Tokunbo's old apartment and quickly becomes friends with Dougie.

Tanya is Lola's friend and a community garden expert who inspects the newly claimed neighborhood space to offer development ideas.