Jane Starla Claudelle, who goes by Starla, is a fiery nine-year-old girl with red hair and a rebellious streak. Raised by her grandmother while her father works on an oil rig, she heavily romanticizes her absent mother and dreams of reuniting with her in Nashville. Her absolute refusal to ignore wrongdoings frequently lands her in disciplinary trouble, but it also drives her to take bold actions. She struggles to understand the racial dynamics of the Jim Crow South until she experiences them firsthand on her journey.

Eula is a Black domestic worker who frequently changes employers and survives severe abuse at home. Despite experiencing intense trauma from her family and the systemic racism of her environment, she possesses a vast capacity for love and an unrelenting desire to care for children. She utilizes optimism and humor as coping mechanisms against the daily prejudices she faces, preferring to focus her energy on her exceptional baking skills.

Miss Cyrena is a white-haired Black woman who teaches third, fourth, and fifth grades at a small elementary school in the Bottom. She is a dedicated supporter of the civil rights movement and actively works to secure equal choices for Black citizens. Practical and compassionate, she provides crucial shelter for Eula and Starla and encourages Eula to express her repressed trauma.

Mamie is Starla's stern, traditional grandmother and primary guardian. She idolizes Jackie Kennedy and attempts to force Starla into the mold of a proper young lady by using her formal first name, Jane. Her reliance on physical punishment and long lists of chores creates a highly contentious living environment for her granddaughter.

Porter is Starla's father, a hardworking man who spends months away on an oil rig to provide financial support for his daughter. He prefers Starla's middle name over her formal first name and assumed she was content living under Mamie's care. His extended absences leave him somewhat disconnected from the reality of Starla's daily emotional struggles.

Lucinda, who insists on going by Lulu, is Starla's mother who abandoned her family when Starla was a baby. She lives in Nashville pursuing a career as a professional singer. Her hometown community in Mississippi views her poorly and treats her existence as a shameful secret, though Starla elevates her to a flawless, famous idol in her imagination.

Patti Lynn is Starla's best friend in Cayuga Springs. She lives in a large house on Magnolia Street with a dog and multiple siblings, representing the exact type of conventional family life that Starla desperately craves. She frequently plays in a magnolia tree fort with Starla.

Wallace is Eula's abusive husband who formerly held a job at a local charcoal plant. He is acutely aware of the lethal danger posed by a Black family harboring a white child in the Jim Crow South. He uses alcohol and violent intimidation to control Eula and immediately views Starla and James as a fatal threat to his own survival.

James is a white baby who was abandoned on the steps of a white church. Eula takes him in and cares for him, viewing him as part of God's plan. His presence creates intense friction in Eula's household, as Wallace understands the extreme danger of a Black family possessing a white infant in their society.

Jimmy is a twelve-year-old boy living in Cayuga Springs. He rides his bicycle aggressively through the neighborhood and bullies younger children, prompting a physical altercation with Starla that sets off the main events of the story.

Jimmy's mother, who lives in Cayuga Springs. Furious over Starla breaking her son's nose, she attempts to physically force Starla into her car to return her to Mamie for severe punishment.

A five-year-old girl in Cayuga Springs whom Starla affectionately calls "Prissy Pants." She becomes the target of Jimmy Sellers's bullying, leading Starla to violently defend her.

A resident of the Bottom and a friend of Miss Cyrena. She strongly opposes the civil rights movement and the NAACP, believing that outside organizers only bring trouble and worsen conditions for Black residents in Mississippi.

One of the violently racist Jenkins brothers who terrorize the area around the Bottom. He drives a red and white truck decorated with a Confederate flag and operates with a sense of total impunity regarding his violent actions toward Black citizens.

A boy slightly older than Starla who meets her at the local carnival. He mockingly calls her "Red" but later provides her an escape route on his bicycle during a tense confrontation with law enforcement.

A religious leader in Nashville whose church specifically assists people in need. He steps in to scare off a group of men harassing Eula outside his building, subsequently offering the travelers much-needed food and safety in the church basement.

A former piano teacher who owns a house in Cayuga Springs. Starla associates the gentle sounds of her piano playing with the few happy, peaceful memories she has of her mother and father coexisting in the upstairs apartment.

Patti Lynn's older sister. She experiences a crisis that causes her family to send her away to live with relatives in Ohio, deeply upsetting the normally stable Todd household.

Eula's brother, who mirrors the toxic, "no-account" nature of their father. He actively participated in beating Eula and brutally punishing her for her teenage pregnancy, cementing a lifelong estrangement between them.

Lulu's new husband in Nashville. He lives with her in a cramped, disorderly apartment, far removed from the glamorous lifestyle Starla envisioned for her mother.