Sally is just 10, and she is not only the smallest and youngest patient on the ward, but also the sickest. While the other children are healing from accidents or procedures, Sally is not getting better; in fact, late in the novel, her health worsens. Context clues suggest she has cancer, as her treatments weaken her and she has experienced hair loss, likely from chemotherapy. She worries she will not survive to leave the hospital or live out her life.

Despite her weakened physical form, Sally is the strongest in spirit and the cleverest of the children in the ward. She also generously saves her fellow patients from the wrath of Matron by lying for them. That she does so even after they leave her behind on Amber’s and George’s dream adventures points to above-average empathy.

All the characters come to realize how special Sally is, and they are so inspired by her strength, spirit, and hope that they create her dream of a “big, beautiful life” (339). Her impact extends to their increased efficiency and effectiveness in their ability to work together, as they all must contribute to the performance by constructing props and playing roles. Her impact on Tom is most profound: As someone who has no friends before his hospital stay, Tom quickly learns how it feels to jeopardize a friendship when he forsakes his initial promise to Sally; his intention to make it up to her drives his through-line of action. Sally is a static character whose noble traits do not change, though she is grateful and happier to be included by the Midnight Gang by the end of the story.

Despite casts on her arms and legs from breaks sustained by falling out of bed, Amber is characterized as the leader of the Midnight Gang. She maintains her authority by bossing the others around, especially when they push her in the wheelchair. She is extremely kind and supportive of Porter but harshly keeps Sally from having any fun by refusing to bring her along for the gang’s exploits.

Though Amber mellows slightly by allowing Tom to join the gang and agreeing that Sally deserves a dream, Amber is still domineering at the novel’s end. She tries to take credit for Sally’s milestones performance, for example, telling the gathered adults that it was mostly her idea when in fact it was Tom’s. Amber is a dynamic character who grows in empathy and kindness, but her manners and interpersonal behaviors are works in progress.

Robin, age 12, had surgery on his eyes and wears bandages that prevent him from seeing anything. He is a young musician who loves classical music. Robin displays kindness and concern for Sally and helps the gang by contributing to their efforts despite his inability to see. He has a sharp wit and often lands verbal zingers in a slightly sarcastic or smarmy way, especially regarding George’s appearance, personality, and intelligence and Sir Strillers’s officiousness. Robin contributes the classical “soundtrack” to the performance of Sally’s life and runs the slideshow for it, even though he cannot see. Robin is a static character and an archetypal Ally to Tom.

George is 11 and healing from tonsillectomy. Instead of gelatin and other soft foods, he binges on candy and chocolate. He is mostly responsible for the gang’s ability to sneak out of the ward at night since he doses some chocolates with his “snoozy pills” and lures Matron into confiscating them. George’s dialogue represents a cockney accent. His dream is to fly, but he is robbed of his dream when an older patient, Nelly, steals his chance. George is a static character and, like Robin, an archetypal Ally to Tom.

Porter is an older man employed as a porter at the hospital. His mother abandoned him as an infant there, presumably because of his visible differences and disabilities: In Tom’s viewpoint of Porter, Porter’s face is “completely lopsided. One side was larger than it should have been, and the other was smaller” (27). Tom notices that one side of Porter’s body is smaller than the other as well, causing Porter to limp. Porter stayed at the hospital as doctors tried to help correct his physical growth, but no one ever adopted him, and he eventually was hired there as a porter. Though he tried living in society outside the hospital, Porter found his neighbors to be cruel and harmful, so he gave up his apartment and now secretly lives in the basement of the hospital. He cares for a pet pigeon.

Tom learns that Porter, as a child, was the establishing member of the Midnight Gang and that he has been heroically making hospitalized children’s dreams come true ever since. Porter replaces the cruel Matron at the end of the story and takes the name Thomas. He is a kind, considerate character whom the children love and Tom grows to respect and adore. As the hospital’s new “Doctor of Fun” and manager of the children’s ward, Porter also represents the need for joy as part of healing, recovery, and daily life. His identity and self-esteem change and grow as others (e.g., Tom and Sir Strillers) recognize his kindness.