Cassie is a nine-year-old Black girl living in rural Mississippi during the 1930s. Highly intelligent and observant, she possesses a quick temper that sometimes draws her into trouble. She feels deeply connected to her family's land and the outdoors, finding the segregated adult world around her illogical and unfair. Her intense curiosity drives her to eavesdrop on adult conversations, making her a well-informed narrator of her family's struggles.

Stacey is Cassie's twelve-year-old older brother. He takes his role as the eldest sibling seriously and feels a strong sense of responsibility to protect his family, especially while his father works away from home on the railroad. He thinks carefully about adult expectations and works hard to transition responsibly from childhood to young adulthood.

Mary is the mother of the Logan children and a dedicated teacher at the Great Faith Elementary and Secondary School. Described as thin, sinewy, and possessing delicate features in a strong-jawed face, she is deeply committed to educating her community about history and dignity. Other teachers consider her a radical for her direct, pointed responses to systemic racism.

Big Ma is Cassie's paternal grandmother, a tall and strongly built woman in her sixties who works tirelessly on the family farm. She serves as the family's historian, actively preserving the legacy of her late husband Paul Edward and his acquisition of their land. She is highly skilled in traditional medicine and frequently called upon to heal sick neighbors.

David is Cassie's father, a tall man with a square, high-cheekboned face who spends part of the year working on the railroad to pay the family's mortgage. He projects calm confidence and a deep devotion to maintaining independent ownership of the family land. He offers his children thoughtful guidance on surviving the oppressive racial dynamics of the Jim Crow South without losing their dignity.

Mr. Granger is a powerful, wealthy white landowner whose family previously owned the acreage that the Logans currently possess. He rents his vast property to Black sharecroppers and constantly seeks leverage to force the Logans to sell their farm back to him. He uses his financial influence to uphold systemic inequality in the community.

Lillian Jean is a twelve-year-old white girl who serves as Cassie's direct peer antagonist. She fully believes the racist teachings of her family and actively demands deference from Cassie and other Black children, expecting them to step off the sidewalk to let her pass.

Mr. Morrison is a massive, heavily scarred man who lost his job on the railroad after fighting white men. David brings him to live with the Logans as a hired hand to protect the family from night riders. Quiet but incredibly powerful, he arrives carrying deep trauma from his childhood but finds a new, fiercely defended sense of belonging with the Logans.

Dewberry, Thurston, and Kaleb Wallace are virulently racist brothers who run the local store on Harlan Granger's land. They exploit Black sharecropping families by allowing them to run up massive debts, while frequently enacting brutal, vigilante violence to enforce white supremacy and maintain their own authority in the area.

Uncle Hammer is David's older brother who has migrated north to Chicago, returning to Mississippi during the holidays. He possesses a fiery temperament and expresses intense impatience and anger toward racist Southern customs. He drives a flashy car to signal his financial independence and exhibits fierce, uncompromising loyalty to his family.

T.J. is a tall, emaciated-looking seventh-grader who shares a complicated dynamic with Stacey. He actively attempts to avoid hard work and seeks attention through gossip, trickery, and scheming. Though initially just a mischievous nuisance, his poor judgment and desire to impress dangerous people frequently drag him into serious trouble.

Jeremy is a young white boy who persistently tries to befriend the Logan children, particularly Stacey. An outcast among his racist family and peers, he spends his time observing the Logans and attempting to prove himself as a reliable, kindhearted ally despite the deeply entrenched segregation around him.

Cassie's younger brothers share the burden of growing up in a segregated society. Little Man is a fastidious, fiercely proud first-grader who cannot stand dirt or the indignity of receiving cast-off, soiled textbooks. Seven-year-old Christopher-John is highly sensitive, preferring to remain on good terms with everyone and often moved to tears by the racial injustices that threaten his family.

Mr. Jamison is a respectful, fair-minded white lawyer in his mid-fifties who treats the Logan family with complete dignity, uniquely addressing Mary and Big Ma as "Missus." He stands out in the community for his willingness to support the Logans legally and financially, fully aware of the consequences he faces from powerful white neighbors.

Claude is T.J.'s younger brother and a friend of Christopher-John Logan. He is quieter and more submissive than his brother, often dragged along on T.J.'s mischievous errands and forced to accept the blame for T.J.'s poor choices.

Mrs. Crocker is a strict, traditional teacher at the Great Faith school who believes in accepting the status quo. She readily punishes Cassie and Little Man for rejecting the degraded textbooks passed down from the white school, viewing Mary Logan's rebellious alterations to the books with deep disapproval.

Mr. Simms is the fiercely racist father of Lillian Jean and Jeremy. He aggressively enforces the racial hierarchy in town, using physical intimidation against children to demand that Black citizens show absolute deference to his family.

Mr. Barnett is the white owner of the Barnett Mercantile in Strawberry. He openly dismisses and insults Black patrons, instantly prioritizing the needs of any white customer who enters his store, regardless of who was waiting first.